Abraham lived 180 years and, essentially, only has one chapter dedicated to him in the entire Bible. Abraham, Jacob and Joseph lived fewer years and are mentioned much more. Chapter 26 focuses all eyes on Isaac. And as we saw last week, the first half of the chapter didn’t paint him in the best light. Isaac, the man of great faith and son of the great patriarch, Abraham, fell into the same sin as the great patriarch. How can this be for a man of such great faith?
Isaac failed to trust the Lord with his circumstances and, yet, his slide in faithfulness didn’t hamper God’s covenant promises from moving forward through him. Isaac’s life gives us a glimpse into the acting out of a confident faith. The quality of Isaac’s faith is not where his confidence lies. His confidence lies in the object of his faith, the Lord. That fact becomes apparent in this week’s passage. It shows us several responses of Isaac’s confident faith. I think you’ll find each one of his responses directly applicable to your own Christian faith in action. It explains how our faith continues to move confidently forward, even when we are less than fully faithful.
