Trust Accounts
For now I know that a God-fearer you are Genesis 22:12
Now – You have a trust account with God. It was opened the day you were born. During the course of your life, you will make deposits into the account. So will God. It’s just a matter of time.
The story of Abraham is much more than a story of the beginning of God’s people. In this story, we see God’s decision to use some to reach all. We see God’s sovereign election, not based on our merit or earned by our efforts. We see ordinary human beings, awash in struggle and failure, in sacred covenant relationship with a holy God. We see a God Who is reliable, faithful and trustworthy no matter how we act. And we see something else – something crucial from our side. We see that trust takes a very long time to reach its goal. It took almost 100 years for Abraham. But God is incredibly patient.
If you’ve never thought much about this verse, perhaps today is the day to consider just how odd this statement really is. It seems to imply that there was some doubt in God’s mind about the quality of the Abraham’s trust, for it suggests that after this test, God knows that Abraham really stakes everything on God’s character. We could look at the risk here. Isaac on the altar, about to be slaughtered, represents everything God promised. Will God now take away the last hope of Abraham? Will Abraham’s legacy and purpose be destroyed before his eyes? Abraham’s actions show that he is completely and finally ready to receive whatever God decides to give. Abraham has arrived at the place where all that matters is loving obedience. Now God knows that Abraham will not hold back anything. In order to understand what is really happening, we need to see the force of the Hebrew word. The word, ‘attah, has both a temporal and a logical sense. In other words, it means that as a result of arriving at this particular point in time, some conclusion is about to follow. The conclusion is that Abraham is a man who reveres God above all else. Abraham added to his trust account on that day, and the bank was finally full. ‘attah is not so much a statement about a time when God finally knows as it is a statement that Abraham’s faith is finally full. God can draw a conclusion about Abraham’s commitment.
Did God know that Abraham trusted Him before this day? Of course. But trust is cumulative. Deposits are made over a lifetime until the account is full. God patiently engineers the temporal events of our lives so that there is a steady stream of opportunities to invest in the trust account. Sometimes we see the opportunity and act accordingly. Sometimes we become fearful and God is required to re-engineer the arrival point. Abraham took a long time to get to Mount Moriah, but step-by-step, God lead him to the exact moment when the final deposit could be made. Trust started Abraham on this journey decades before Mount Moriah. There were plenty of sidesteps and falls along the way, but God’s plan always led here. At precisely the right moment, Abraham stood before His Lord and banked everything on Him.
That’s how our lives work. God starts us out on a journey. The destination is always a fully-funded trust account. God simply engineers the temporal path so that we arrive at the ‘attah moment and are given the opportunity to make the final deposit. Then God draws the conclusion, “Now I know. The account is full.”
You are journeying toward Moriah. You may arrive there this afternoon, or tomorrow, or next year. Along the way, you will have opportunities to make deposits. Watch for them. They are not always as obvious as a sacrifice on an altar, but they are always moments when you will be asked to let go of something you thought you needed. Let God know that your account is full.
Topical Index: Trust
