How can I know?

Most of us are alike when it comes to making decisions. Before we make the decisions we want to know that we are doing the right thing. This is particularly true with major life decisions, because there is often a great price we must pay for our wrong decisions. Take as an example, investing. Before we are willing to invest in something, we want to know that investment is sound, and our return is guaranteed. Such knowledge might come form an in-depth study of that particular investment, or perhaps from the advice of someone we trust who has more knowledge than us about that investment.

Possession of such knowledge gives us the confidence that will enable us to weather the various storms that may come throughout the life of that investment. Without that knowledge that we are making the right decision we are more likely to back away from the investment in the first place. Or, we will proceed hesitantly, constantly subject to doubt, and be tempted to get out of the investment in an attempt to “cut our losses.”

Perhaps the hardest part of living a life of faith is being able to act with the certainty that comes only from knowledge, without actually having that knowledge. Many people have equated faith with unfounded optimism. The phrase “blind faith” has given many people the idea that those who choose to trust God have no real grounds for that faith. These people see faith as nothing more than wishful thinking. If this were true, than the life of faith would be nothing more than a gamble, and could probably be expected to produce about the same results. But as we read the many stories throughout the Bible we find a very different picture of the life of faith.

In Genesis 15:7 God spoke to Abraham and told him that He had brought him out of Ur to give him the land of Canaan as a possession. God had already told him this on two other occasions, and yet nothing in Abraham’s circumstances suggested it was true. Outside of God’s promise, Abraham had no real way to know this would happen. And so in Genesis 15:8 Abraham asked God a simple but powerful question:

“Lord, How can I know that I will possess it?”

Isn’t it comforting to see the man who would later become known as “The father of faith” asking such a question? Like most of us, Abraham did not want to spend his life hoping for something that would never happen. He was willing to commit himself to believing this promise, living in expectancy of its fulfillment, but he wanted to know first. Not too different than many of us, wouldn’t you say? It shouldn’t surprise us then, that God’s answer to Abraham’s question is not too different than the one he gives us.

God could have answered Abraham in any number of ways. He could have simply said, “Forget it, I’ll find someone else!” He could have rebuked him for his unbelief, and told him to just have “blind faith.” Or, He could have given him a vision of the future, in which he saw himself and his descendants enjoying the land. But God didn’t do any of these things. Instead, He chose to answer Abraham’s request by making a covenant with him. (Genesis 15:8-21) A covenant is defined as “a solemn and binding agreement or promise for the performance of some action” and this is precisely what God did – He promised Abraham that He would give him the land. And this is precisely what God has done for us. He has made a covenant with us through the blood of Jesus, so that we can know that He will do what He has promised us throughout his word!