How does God communicate with you? I have had a few “mountaintop” experiences on retreat or after a time of intense prayer, meditation, and holy conversation. But most of us encounter God in our daily routine. We would have the good sense to pay attention to a burning bush. But to hear God’s voice in the daily round of life presents a greater challenge. The problem arises not with a lack of God’s speaking but with our inability to listen.
The author of Hebrews looks to the past to affirm the faith of the ancestors and then encourages that same faith in the present generation. Abraham listens to God, and God continues speaking despite Abraham’s doubt. He obeys God’s call and believes God’s promises. The particulars that surround his dramatic encounters with God occur amidst the mundane and ordinary daily grind.
How often and in how many different ways does God come to us through our circumstances, the wise counsel of others, impressions of the still small voice of the Spirit within our hearts? If we feel too harried and hurried to stop and listen, we miss the encounter.
Abraham hears God in the midst of the ordinary and believes. This simple yet bold response of faith and belief in the promise of God regardless of the circumstances is what God credits as righteous standing in Abraham’s behalf.
The writer of Hebrews points to the singular focus of Abraham’s faith when observing that he “obeyed,” “stayed,” and “received” both the promise and the power of God. At the end of his life he still looked forward to the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promise.