Hitting a Wall After a Spiritual Victory

Abraham’s life inspires me. He was nowhere near perfect, but his heart, overall, was bent on knowing God.

This morning as I read in Genesis 22, I saw two verses I’ve not noticed before. The chapter is about Abraham’s test of obedience. He comes through that experience with flying colors. And then he hits a wall.

Genesis 22:20 says.”Soon after this, Abraham heard that Milcah, his brother Nahor’s wife, had borne Nahor eight sons.

Genesis 22:24 says, “In addition to his eight sons from Milcah, Nahor had four other children from his concubine.”

Why are these verses included? What’s the point anyway?

Here’s my thought: Abraham’s life hadn’t been easy. He’d trusted God when He told him to leave everything familiar and go to a strange country. He’d trusted God for a promised son even though it meant waiting more than twenty years. He’d taken a detour when he slept with Hagar and later felt the pain of sending her and Ishmael into the wilderness to keep peace with Sarah.

Most recently, Abraham had faced the most challenging experience of his life when God asked him to be willing to sacrifice Isaac. His actions proved his faith in God and marked a huge spiritual victory. And then comes Genesis 22:20.

“Soon after this, Abraham heard that Milcah , his brother Nahor’s wife, had borne Nahor eight sons.” Add the concubine’s four kids, and the brother has twelve offspring.

That news must have been hard to hear

Abraham had been faithful to God, willing to obey to the nth degree, and yet he had only one son by Sarah. Nahor had eight sons by his his wife. I wonder if Abraham compared his situation with Nahor’s and felt a twinge of jealousy.

Maybe hearing this news after his spiritual high bred some tension: “God, this isn’t fair. I’ve done so much on Your behalf, and yet You’ve blessed my brother more than me. What’s with that?”

Hitting a wall after a spiritual victory isn’t uncommon

Sometimes we hear of someone else’s blessings and, with a twinge of jealousy, we compare our situation to theirs. Perhaps our faith journey has been more trying than theirs. It seems as though theirs is a stroll down Easy Street while ours is an ongoing trudge through Deep Valley.

“What’s with that? It’s not fair, God.”

Yes, I wonder how Abraham felt. Scripture doesn’t tell us, but I have a hunch he struggled a bit. After all, he was human like me and you. I can identify because I’ve struggled with comparison, too.

In the end, though, we have to trust that God knows what He’s doing. He sees the big picture. He’s just and righteous and makes no mistakes.