Learning to Trust God and Build Friendship

God does not shy away from asking of us big “asks.”  I generally think He loves to do this because it gives Him the opportunity to show off His generosity.

When we are first introduced to Abram in Genesis, right off the bat, God has a big ask, of Abram, saying,

NOW [in Haran] the Lord said to Abram, Go for yourself [for your own advantage] away from your country, from your relatives and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. [Heb. 11:8-10.] Genesis 12:1 AMPC

God, then, pairs the ask with a promise.

And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you [with abundant increase of favors] and make your name famous and distinguished, and you will be a blessing [dispensing good to others]. And I will bless those who bless you [who confer prosperity or happiness upon you] and curse him who curses or uses insolent language toward you; in you will all the families and kindred of the earth be blessed [and by you they will bless themselves]. [Gal. 3:8.] Genesis 12:2-3 AMPC

So, with each success experienced during a challenge/test, and with each promise granted God builds trust and friendship which then engenders faithfulness and obedience from His subject.

As people learn to trust God’s goodness and love, they also gain more confidence in showing grand generosity of heart without fear of lack as a result.  Abram shows this generosity of heart when he gives his nephew Lot the first pick of territory for them each to settle to away from each other.

For,

… the land was not able to nourish and support them so they could dwell together, for their possessions were too great for them to live together.   Genesis 13:6AMPC

So Abram said,

Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself, I beg of you, from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if you choose the right hand, then I will go to the left.  Then Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley and [he] traveled east…  Genesis 13:9, 11 AMPC

Abram also showed God’s generosity of heart leading a rescue of his nephew Lot from invading armies, and then refusing to take compensation for the fight.

When Abram heard that [his nephew] had been captured, he armed (led forth) the 318 trained servants born in his own house and pursued the enemy as far as Dan. And he brought back all the goods and also brought back his kinsman Lot and his possessions, the women also and the people…Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted up my hand and sworn to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor and Maker of heaven and earth, That I would not take a thread or a shoelace or anything that is yours, lest you should say, I have made Abram rich. [Take all] except only what my young men have eaten and the share of the men [allies] who went with me–Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.            Genesis 14:14, 16, 22-24 AMPC

None of the above Asks were easily followed thru on.  Abram certainly felt fear.  In fact, God had to reassure Abram saying,

AFTER THESE things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am your Shield, your abundant compensation, and your reward shall be exceedingly great.

Liquid gold to God was for Abram to come to believe, to trust Him.

And he [Abram] believed in (trusted in, relied on, remained steadfast to) the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness (right standing with God). [Rom. 4:3, 18-22; Gal. 3:6; James 2:23.] Genesis 15:1, 6 AMPC

God is the initiator of friendship.  It is not just for a select few.  Even Hagar, Sari’s maid/servant, is seen by God and offered friendship.

… the Angel of the Lord found (Hagar) by a spring of water in the wilderness on the road to Shur. And He said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where did you come from, and where are you intending to go? And she said, I am running away from my mistress Sarai. The Angel of the Lord said to her, Go back to your mistress and [humbly] submit to her control.

And again, true to God’s model for building friendship God makes promises to Hagar in exchange for her obedience.

So (Hagar) called the name of the Lord Who spoke to her, You are a God of seeing, for she said, Have I [not] even here [in the wilderness] looked upon Him Who sees me [and lived]? Or have I here also seen [the future purposes or designs of] Him Who sees me?  Genesis 16:7-9, 13 AMPC

Hagar went on from this encounter to birth Abraham’s first son Ishmael.  Following his birth, It was a challenge to Abraham — to believe on the promise that Sarah would give him a son of promise, and to accept God’s will that it would not be Ishmael who would live as God’s favored, for Abraham did love Ishmael.

Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart, Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a son? And [he] said to God, Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!  Genesis 17:17-18 AMPC

But instead of Ishmael living before God as Abraham longed, God instructed Abraham to send Ishmael and his mother away.

God said to Abraham, Do not let it seem grievous and evil to you because of the youth and your bondwoman; in all that Sarah has said to you, do what she asks, for in Isaac shall your posterity be called. [Rom. 9:7.] So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a bottle of water and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulders, and he sent her and the youth away. And she wandered on [aimlessly] and lost her way in the wilderness of Beersheba. And God heard the voice of the youth, and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven and said to her, What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the youth where he is. Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the [empty] bottle with water and caused the youth to drink. And God was with the youth, and he developed; and he dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer. Genesis 21:12, 14, 17, 19-20 AMPC

Praise God!   Abraham could and did learn to entrust even those he cared about into the hands of His caring and powerful God.

By coming to trust God and His goodness, even when he didn’t understand, Abraham grew to have the confidence to approach God in speaking to Him one on one, and making prayerful intercession with expectation of being heard and responded to.

Abraham answered, Behold now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord.  Genesis 18:27

So Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his female slaves, and they bore children,  Genesis 20:17 AMPC

While being able to confidently approach the throne room of God is great, I think His best return from a proven friend is that friend teaching his own family to trust God and do good as well.

For I have known (chosen, acknowledged) him [as My own], so that he may teach and command his children and the sons of his house after him to keep the way of the Lord and to do what is just and righteous, so that the Lord may bring Abraham what He has promised him.   Genesis 18:19 AMPC

For,

The Grand finale of the testing of Abraham’s faith and the successful passing down of faith to his own sons is when God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son of promise, Issac.

AFTER THESE events, God tested and proved Abraham and said to him, Abraham! And he said, Here I am. [God] said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I will tell you. So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and then began the trip to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham said to his servants, Settle down and stay here with the donkey, and I and the young man will go yonder and worship and come again to you. Then Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on [the shoulders of] Isaac his son, and he took the fire (the firepot) in his own hand, and a knife; and the two of them went on together. And Isaac said to Abraham, My father! And he said, Here I am, my son. [Isaac] said, See, here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt sacrifice? Abraham said, My son, God Himself will provide a lamb for the burnt offering. So the two went on together. When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there; then he laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar on the wood. [Matt. 10:37.] But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham! He answered, Here I am. And He said, Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear and revere God, since you have not held back from Me or begrudged giving Me your son, your only son. Then Abraham looked up and glanced around, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering and an ascending sacrifice instead of his son!  Genesis 22:1-3, 5-9, 11-13 AMPC

Abraham’s son at this point was a young man.  He could have easily resisted his father.  Issac’s submission to both father and Father is unparalleled, that is other than Abraham’s, and Jesus of coarse.  🙂

Oh to be a friend of Jesus, to share this confidence, and be told, “well done thou good and faithful servant.”