Blind Faith and a Better Plan

I knew that I was sick in November of 2021. It was terrifying because I could feel that something was wrong, but I struggled to articulate it. Even though I armed myself with an ever-growing list of alarming symptoms, I was routinely dismissed, ignored, and even harassed by the doctors who were supposed to be helping me. Many of them told me that my symptoms were normal for a young woman, that nothing was wrong with me, or that I was being dramatic. As my physical health worsened, so did my mental health. I was lonely, frustrated, and in excruciating pain. My husband and I leaned on God, daily crying out to Him for a measure of physical, financial, and spiritual relief from this crisis—but to no avail.

It would take until March of 2023 to finally get a proper diagnosis—16 long months after the initial illness struck. The verdict was advanced-stage Ulcerative Colitis, a debilitating autoimmune disease that wreaked havoc on my digestive tract, immune system, and energy levels. By that point, we had severely limited options. After the doctor told us that I was two months away from losing my large intestine, he said the only treatment plan was a regimen of “nuclear-dose” biologics in the form of an infusion and expensive injections. He revealed that this treatment would be lifelong and a big gamble, as the drug of choice was still relatively new for treating my condition.

Overnight, our world turned upside down. My husband and I learned that the diagnosis automatically disqualified us from being missionaries with the I.M.B, which had been a lifelong dream of ours. We heard that having children may be impossible, and that even international adoptions from many countries were closed to us. Our feelings of devastation were insurmountable. All the while, God was present, but He was slow to respond to our prayers and silent when we sought answers. All we knew was that He was calling us to trust Him, even though we didn’t understand the “how” or the “why” of what we were facing. Looking back on those days post-diagnosis, I can’t help but see the similarities between our story and the story of Abraham and Sarah—two biblical figures who were well acquainted with the burden of blind faith.

Abraham’s Call to Obedience

Abraham’s story is radical from the very beginning. The Bible does not give us a lot of background on him aside from his lineage but introduces him as a grown and married adult. After Terah (Abraham’s father) died, Genesis outlines how God was about to call Abraham to take the journey of a lifetime. Genesis 12: 1-3 says, “Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Abraham’s response is striking because his obedience is immediate and unquestioning. At the ripe old age of 75, he packs up his stuff, organizes his possessions, gathers his wife, nephew, and the people of Haran, and sets off toward Canaan. Years later, when Abraham was 99, God showed up to shake up his world even more.

He appeared to Abraham and said, “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:4-8)

If I had to guess, I would wager that the words Abraham fixated on during this exchange were the words “father” and “offspring”. After all, he and his wife Sarah had been barren since the start of their marriage. Their child-bearing years were long over, their dreams of having children long laid to rest. Then, God expanded on His promise by saying,

 “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” (Genesis 17:15-17) 
Abraham’s Response vs. Sarah’s Response

When the text says that Abraham, “fell on his face and laughed”, it is describing a reaction of incredulous wonder and joy against all hope. We know this to be true based on the assessments Jesus and Paul make in different parts of Scripture. For example, when Jesus speaks to the Pharisees at the end of John 8, he points to the extreme faith in Abraham’s response. The text says, “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” (John 8:56). Interestingly, Jesus chooses to use the adjective glad when it would be easy to interpret Abraham’s laughter as sheer disbelief. Jesus seems to be saying that once Abraham heard the news and saw the promises of God, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud in delight.

In Romans 4, Paul also explains the heart behind Abraham’s response when he writes,

 “...as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4: 17-22)
Abraham believed against hope, he did not weaken in faith, and no unbelief made him waver. What a glorious example for us today! Sarah, on the other hand, had a different response. 
When Abraham again encountered God in Genesis 18, Sarah had an opportunity to overhear His message from her tent. The passage states, “The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.” (Genesis 18: 10-15).

Unlike Abraham’s incredulous laughter, Sarah’s laugh was one of unbelief and possible contempt. Given her negative circumstances, she simply couldn’t believe that something so miraculous could happen in her days. We simply do not have the time to break down how extensively she tried to take God’s promises into her own hands with her servant Hagar (Genesis 16), or explore Abraham’s lack of faithfulness when taking Sarah to Egypt (Genesis 12). These were not perfect people by any means! However, before we go any further, don’t be quick to judge and condemn Sarah for her lack of faith. How often have we been afraid to pray difficult prayers because we don’t believe God can provide? How often have we scoffed at stories of miracles, dismissed accounts of His marvelous works, or simply doubted His character and plan? Praise God that we do not have a Creator who forsakes us when we struggle to see what He is doing!


Sarah’s Redemption
Despite her laughter, Sarah experiences one of the most fascinating full-circle moments in the entire Old Testament. Once her son is born about a year after these events, she names him “Isaac” as God commanded back in Genesis 17. It is interesting that the name Isaac translates to “he laughs”. Right after she gives birth, Sarah says, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” (Genesis 21: 6-7). She is no longer laughing in mockery or disbelief, but in absolute exultation and rejoicing over the fulfillment of God’s promises. After all of those long, agonizing years of suffering and waiting, she finally had a child. Isaac was also not just any child, but the first in a long line of men who would grow to create the lineage of Christ. The promise given to Abraham and Sarah was about far more than the little baby they now held in their arms—it was a shadow of the glorious New Covenant to come.


Heirs of the Same Promise 
While Genesis provides us with plenty of insight into Abraham and Sarah’s story, Hebrews gives us a better picture of the magnitude of their blind faith. The author of Hebrews writes, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” (Hebrews 11: 8-13).

This passage highlights that Abraham and Sarah were far more than the sum of their faults. Despite their shortcomings, Hebrews says that Abraham obeyed and went out by faith. It says that Sarah considered him faithful who had promised. Their legacy doesn’t end with their doubt or mistakes but establishes them as immovable pillars of the Christian faith. Hebrews 11: 39-40 takes it a step or two further when the author writes, “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.”

What does he mean by writing that they “did not receive what was promised?” They had Isaac, didn’t they? We need to remember that Isaac was Abraham and Sarah’s only child they were able to have together. This reality comes after God tells Abraham that he will be exceedingly fruitful and that kings will come from him. While we call him the “father of many nations”, Abraham did not get to see those nations come to fruition. Does this make God a liar? Of course not! We know that Abraham and Sarah were only able to see the preliminary glimpses of what God specifically promised them because they were awaiting a greater future hope. Namely, this future hope would manifest in the person of Christ and His New Covenant realities—the eternal perfection of the faithful believers and Christ’s superior priesthood. What a gift that God extends these realities to us on this side of the cross!

I do not know what the future holds for my family. I am finding peace in the fact that Abraham and Sarah did not know either. If only they could have seen the plans God set into motion through Isaac! I’m sure they would not have been able to contain the enormity of their worship and amazement. I pray that the same will be true of my family as we navigate our “new normal”. Whatever He has in store for us, I can confidently say that it will be better than anything we could plan for ourselves. Whether you are experiencing a time of suffering, waiting on an answer to prayer, or God is calling you to take a major step of obedience, know that you are not alone.

As we await the triumphant fulfillment of His promises, whether they be on this side of glory or the next, we lift our hands and surrender our hearts “... to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3: 20-21).