The Key to Faith Becoming a Reality

Genesis 22:13

And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

Abraham had already proved his faith, but God came back and asked him to prove his faith again. This time, he was asked to give his only son as a sacrifice to God. This request seems harsh, but God knew the only way He could find out the heart of Abraham was through an act of faith. When God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, he did not waver to obey; instead, we see Abraham taking his son by faith to the top of the mountain to sacrifice him to God.

Abraham’s faith was not exposed once, but twice. When Isaac asked his father where the lamb for the burnt offering was, he said, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. When Abraham had raised his arm by faith to slay his son as a sacrifice, the angel stopped him. However, it was when Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, is when he saw a ram caught in a thicket by his horns.

Soul winning is always the key to seeing your faith become a reality. It is interesting the ram was caught by his horns in the thicket. The thicket was a bush of thorns, and yet we see this ram caught in this bush. The bush was a type of sin, as the thorn is always a type of sin. The ram in this situation is a picture of Christ as our sacrifice for sin. But notice, this ram was caught by his horns, and the horns are a type of victory. There is one other picture God gives us in this story. He said that Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked. This is a type of soul winning. Mark 4:35 says, Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. Abraham’s statements of faith to his son became a reality when he lifted his eyes and saw the ram caught in the thicket.

The believer should not only talk about living by faith, but they should step out by faith to see God do the miraculous. However, the miraculous will never become a reality until you lift your eyes to go soul winning. We can talk about living by faith, but the purpose of faith is so that souls can be saved. We can praise God in every service, but praise services have never resulted in one miracle. We can have a singspiration service and lift our voices to sing, but faith has never been challenged in a song service, and no miracle has ever resulted from churches singing. A church can get involved in community projects to make themselves look good to the community, but there is no faith in this, and no miracle has ever resulted from a church performing community projects.

The great miracles of God are always a result of soul winning. Soul winning spurs the faith of the believer, but faith without works is dead. What type of works do we need to see our faith become a reality? We need the works of soul winning to see our faith become a reality.

Let me ask, have you stepped out by faith and attempted anything great for God? If not, now is the time to see God do something miraculous through your life. Your faith will only become a reality once YOU lift up your eyes to see the great harvest, and then go and do your best to reach that harvest. Great miracles of faith become a reality when you get busy trying to reach the great harvest of souls through soul winning.