Abraham: A Model of Patience

Abraham: A Model of Patience and Prayer for Me

Abraham was an Old Testament figure with whom God made a covenant. He was told by God that he would be the father of many tribes.

However, since his wife Sara was barren, and both Abraham and Sara were well into their old age before either of them had any children, this promise from God seemed doubtful. Yet, as the three strangers told Sara, "With God all things are possible."

Their words proved true, as Sara conceived Isaac, Abraham's son, very late in her life. The promise to Abraham was fulfilled -- but Abraham's devotion to God would again be tested when told to sacrifice his son to God. In this paper I will show how I can relate to and identify with Abraham, first for his patient waiting and then for his having to offer up that which was most dear to him.

Abraham's life was never simple: it involved many trials. There was the trial he underwent with Lot, whose herdsman were fighting with Abraham's. There was the trial of passing through the godless king's territory and tricking him about his wife. There was the trial of having to see Sodom leveled to the ground. There was the trial of Hagar and Ishmael. Then there was the trial of patience in waiting for God's promise to come true. Finally, there was the trial of sacrifice. In each trial, Abraham appeared to act wisely -- and he also showed that he was loyal to God.

In my own life, there are also trials. Like Abraham's, they are trials of patience -- like tests of obedience. I believe God tested Abraham in different ways to show us that if our forefather was put through such rigorous demands, we can expect the same. God allows us free will to show our love for him. He wants to allow bad things to happen so that we can manifest our goodness all the more. Trials and tests are means by which we might prove our devotion to God. When Abraham took Isaac to be sacrificed, he did not moan and complain, but showed that he was ready to follow any and all of God's commands, even if they meant losing his most precious possessions. Abraham showed that all things actually belong to God -- not to us.

This lesson may be remembered by me when Providence deems that I should lose something I value. Whether it is a car that I have sunk lots of time and money into, or a friend that I have known and loved for a long time, or a job that I have always wanted -- when these things are taken away from me I can reflect that my forefather Abraham also had things taken away from him. But Abraham's example of perseverance is a great example of how I should act.

Even after God told him that he demanded circumcision -- a sign of blood -- Abraham did not reverse his feelings toward God; instead, as though by shedding blood, he spiritually strengthened himself all the more. As William John Deane states, "It was shortly after the institution of the covenant of circumcision that Abraham had an opportunity of showing another side of his character, his hospitality to strangers, his boldness in intercessory prayer."

Abraham represents a perfect model of prayer, always talking to God and showing his devotion to and trust in Him. This devotion to God is then in turn manifested in his devotion to other men -- in, for example, his hospitality to the three strangers -- or in his petition for the city of Sodom.