Mark 7:24-29

24 And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid.

25 For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet:

26 The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.

27 But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.

28 And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs.

29 And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.

God tests the faith of His children. Based on their performance when their faith is tested, He promotes them spiritually and physically. Through the test of faith, God ascertains the believer’s depth in Him, sincerity towards Him and maturity in Him.

God tested Abraham’s faith on two major occasions. First, in Genesis 12, God told him to leave his country, kindred, and father’s house to a land which He would show him. That was a great test of faith. The Bible affirms that Abraham believed and obeyed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. On another occasion, after Abraham got Isaac at the age of 100, having waited for the promise for decades, God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of” (Genesis 22:2).

Note the words of the above Scripture and God’s clear as well as specific instructions: “thine only son Isaac whom thou lovest”. You can imagine the thoughts of an ordinary Christian in a dilemma like this. Abraham displayed faith and maturity of a true believer, he did not bother to discuss the matter with Sarah, his wife, because she would have objected to it and argue that God couldn’t have asked for their son as sacrifice, knowing how long it took them to have him. Abraham took his son in obedience to the Mount of Moriah to sacrifice him to God. When Isaac asked his father about the ram they would use, Abraham said that God would provide it. As he was about to bring down the knife to slaughter Isaac, God’s angel spoke from heaven to stop him and told him to take the ram God had provided to replace his son, Isaac.

Abraham passed God’s test of faith on these two occasions. As a result, heaven pronounced mighty blessings on him and his seeds forever. That is why we still talk about and enjoy the Abrahamic covenant till today. Beloved, when God tests your faith, I pray that you will pass and be blessed.