We’ve selected another Alistair Begg devotional for today.

God’s Unchanging Word

Life can feel overwhelming. Every day brings new challenges even as old ones continue without resolution. It’s easy to allow our faith to trip on the stumbling block of our own lack of understanding of our circumstances—to take the baton of faith, as it were, and toss it to the ground, saying, “I’m finished. I can’t run any further.” In those moments, God’s word encourages us to remember that Christian faith is an enduring faith that remains resolute. It is possible to remain obedient to God’s commands even when everything around us seems to contradict what He has promised.

Until the cross, perhaps nowhere in Scripture do we find a more overwhelming moment than in the life of Abraham. It was a moment that occurred entirely at the instigation of God: “[God] said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you’ … When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son” (Genesis 22:2, 9-10). God’s command to Abraham was clear—and yet it seemed to contradict God’s promise that through Abraham’s offspring “all the nations of the earth” would “be blessed” and that “through Isaac shall your offspring be named” (Genesis 22:18; 21:12). The fulfillment of God’s promises depended upon Isaac’s survival. If Isaac was to die, how could the promise be fulfilled?

Yet Abraham still obeyed. Even though his circumstances could have led him to doubt and question God’s word, by faith Abraham said, God has a plan in this. His promise is that through Isaac all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Therefore, He must be going to resurrect him—to raise him up from the dead (Hebrews 11:19). This is why earlier, as Abraham had left to perform the commanded sacrifice, he had said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you” (Genesis 22:5, emphasis added). What an expression of faith! Do not miss this: when the command was given to Abraham, he obeyed it. Although it seemed to directly contradict the promises God had made, Abraham did his business, and he determined to let God do His.

We can do so too. Do not allow your circumstances, however daunting they may be, to lessen your obedience or cause you to call God’s promises into question. Centuries after Abraham and Isaac climbed up, and down, this mountain, God’s own Son rose from the grave on the side of that same mountain, as the ultimate testimony to the truth that God keeps His promises. So you can face whatever today brings confidently, hopefully, and prayerfully, saying, “I can keep going. I’m not finished. God will do His part, and so I can do mine.”

Today’s Updates:

Zach had a really good day yesterday and a not so good day today. Yesterday Zach was very relaxed and tracking us with his eyes. Zach tolerated having his trach cuff down all day yesterday. Today Zach was very agitated with a very high heart rate and his oxygen saturation kept going lower than it should be. They put his trach cuff back up to try and ease his breathing, but Zach still appeared very stressed. They did a chest x-ray on him which showed a left lung pneumothorax (a partial lung collapse due to a collection of air outside the lung). This was disappointing to hear, as Zach had his left chest tube removed only two days ago. At the time of writing this, Zach has completed a CT scan of his chest and is about to get a tube inserted in the left side of his chest again.

Although the partially collapsed lung is a disappointing setback after Zach’s progress over the weekend, we are glad that they found and are treating the pneumothorax. We are thankful to report that Zach is still on the trach mask despite this setback, and he has been off the ventilator for a week and a half now! We pray for healing in Zach’s lungs, brain, and body, and we praise our God for his guiding hand on the medical team here in the ICU.

“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’” (Hebrews 11:17–18)