A Failure Like Abraham

My grandfather taught me many important lessons. One of the most important lessons he taught me was that if I wanted to be successful at doing something I should learn from the example of others who have been successful at doing whatever it was I was wanting to be successful doing. In other words if you want to do auto mechanic work find an expert in the field of auto mechanics and learn from them. If you want to have a happy marriage then emulate the life and practices of people who have happy marriages. If you want to be a good parent then follow the example of those who are good parents, etc. 

I try to apply that same lesson from my grandfather when it comes to my Biblical studies. I do this, not only in how I study the scriptures, but also in how I view the Scriptures. In other words, when I read the narratives in the Scriptures I look at the people it is written about and ask myself were they successful. If the answer is yes, I ask myself what can I glean from their example. However, if the answer is no, I also ask myself what can I learn from those examples also. To say it another way, when I read about those who I see as successful, I ask how I can incorporate what they did into my life so that I can be spiritually successful. For those who were unsuccessful, I ask myself how can I avoid doing what they did so that I can be spiritually successful. 

However, there are times when we read stories in the Bible about characters who seem on the surface to be unsuccessful when in reality they were very successful. We don’t always measure success in the same way that G-D measures success. To provide an example, let’s read what Stephen said about Abraham from Acts 7:1-5:

Acts 7:2 Stephen declared, “Brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. 3 He said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives, and come here to the land that I will show you.’ 4 Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, God moved him to this land where you now live. 5 He gave him no inheritance in it—not even a foothold—yet He promised ‘to give it to him as a possession to him and to his descendants after him,’ even though he had no child.

As we read these words about the man known as the Father of our faith, the man who, according to the Scriptures, we have all become children of through faith (Galatians 3:6-7). The man through whom our covenant relationship begins (Genesis 12:3). Yet, when we look at the words spoken by Stephen about Abraham all of which are true Abraham does not look outwardly successful. Let’s take a look at these words.

In verse 2, G-D appears to Abraham in Mesopotamia and says “leave your country and your relatives and come to the land I will show you.” What does Abraham do? He packs up his house, grabs a relative (Lot), leaves the Chaldeans, and settles in Haran. Abraham’s first act of faith and obedience was to be partially disobedient. If we were grading him, he would receive a 33%. Of the three things G-D told Abraham to do, Abraham obeyed one of them. Yes, Abraham left his country, but he didn’t leave his relatives. He brought Lot with him and, instead of continuing to travel to the land G-D was going to show him, he settled in Haran. It was only after his father died that Abraham continued his journey to the promised land. But, even after Abraham arrived in the promised land he didn’t settle there; instead as the Bible says he sojourned there both in Genesis 23:4 and Hebrews 11:8-10. 

When we read the words of Stephen in Acts verse 5 we see “He gave him no inheritance in it—not even a foothold—yet He promised ‘to give it to him as a possession to him and to his descendants after him…’”

Notice that even though G-D promised Abraham the Land as an inheritance, for Abraham and his descendants, Abraham did not succeed in taking it as a possession. To say this another way, if we were grading Abraham by how we normally measure success, we would determine that he was a failure. 

However, G-D graded Abraham a success, even though Abraham was not outwardly successful. To understand how this can be, let’s consider the following verses:

Genesis 15:6 Then he believed in Adonai and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Romans 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Jacob (James) 2:23 The Scripture was fulfilled that says, “And Abraham believed God, and it 

was credited to him as righteousness”—and he was called God’s friend.

Abraham failed, not only in not taking possession of the Land, but in many other ways - such as having a baby with Hagar. So if we were grading only on his actions we would have to give Abraham a failing grade. But, we should not grade spiritual success based solely upon physical actions. If you read the verses above from Genesis, Romans, and Jacob you will see that G-D actually graded Abraham not because of what he did but because of what he believed. Abraham failed G-D many times but never stopped believing in the promises of G-D. Abraham fell short over and over but he also kept getting back up and moving. The lesson that we learn about Abraham, from the words of Stephen in the book of Acts, is that while Abraham was often unsuccessful he was always a success. Now I don’t know about you but that truth is faith-building and hope inspiring to me. After all, I am too often forced to relate to Abraham’s failures because of my failures. But, these words remind me that my success is not based only upon my actions. My success is based upon my continued belief in what G-D promised. Or, as we read in Matthew 24:13 “But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

It is vital to understand that each of us will fail. Most of us will fail often. But, even with our failures we can succeed if we continue to walk towards G-D’s promises in faith.