Genesis 22-24 & Having Full Faith in God

I feel like a lot us believe in God and have faith in Him. We trust that He will take care of us, and we speak of how good He is. But do we really trust Him? Before I started reading the Bible I believed in God and knew He would take care of me, but I know I doubted Him. I didn't realize then, but now that I've started reading God's Word I see just how little faith I had in the Lord.

For example, in Genesis 22 God tells Abraham to go sacrifice his only son, Isaac. Now, God had already told Abraham that he would prosper through Isaac, so Abraham knew that regardless of what he did to his son, Isaac would live to have children. So Abraham takes Isaac to the mountain where the sacrifice is supposed to happen, and just before Abraham kills his son God stops him and provides a lamb to take Isaac's place. Talk about full trust and faith in God!

Honestly, if I had been in that situation I don't know if I could have led my only child to sacrifice. I don't know if I would have trusted God enough to follow through with His commands. And that made me think. How can I say I know and have faith in the Lord if I'm not willing to do all that He asks of me? Walking with God has so many layers, and it truly is a lifestyle. It can't be turned on and off at our convenience; we have to be walking with the Lord at all times. We can't choose when we want to trust God and when we don't. That's not how it works. It works by trusting in Him 100% of the time - no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

Here's a notable verse I took from Genesis 22: "So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, 'On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.'" (Ge 22:14) You see, God will take care of us and provide us with everything we need, but we have to hold up our end of the bargain and get ourselves to the mountain first.

In Genesis 23 and 24 we learn about Sarah's death and burial. And it's actually really sweet because Abraham pulled out all the stops to lay Sarah to rest in the best place money could buy. And then we start getting into Isaac's life, and apparently he was really upset when his mom died. I feel like a lot of the Bible, at least what I've read so far, is written very matter-of-fact, and we don't get all the emotion that we would get in a novel of today. So for me, it's really refreshing when I see these people in the Bible actually feel some emotion; it's a reminder that these were real people, and it makes their stories more relatable.

So then Isaac marries Rebekah after a big, long journey and a lot of negotiating by one of Abraham's servants. And then another notable verse: "Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death." (Ge 24:67) Again, just the emotion - I can appreciate it. These little things about love and whatnot stand out to me. Maybe it's just because I'm 23, and I can't wait to be married and have a family, but I just really like these little love stories.

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Trusting God takes a lot of faith and confidence in Him. How do you trust Him 100%? How do you keep your faith and trust strong? How do you overcome your hesitations when you feel like God is asking you to do something crazy?

I'd also like to know what your favorite Bible stories are. What stories do you find the easiest to relate to life today?