The study of faith through the lives of Abraham and Sarah reveals a powerful truth: faith is not reserved for perfect people who have everything figured out. Rather, it is accessible to ordinary individuals who choose to trust God despite their fears, doubts, and imperfect decisions.
Many believers struggle with feelings of inadequacy when comparing themselves to the heroes of faith described in Hebrews 11. Like someone who achieves a personal best in swimming only to be passed by faster, younger swimmers, Christians often look at biblical figures and think, "God would never use me like that, so why even try?" This sentiment can be especially pronounced when reading about individuals like Noah, who built an ark having never seen rain, or Abraham, who left everything to follow God's call.
However, a closer examination of Abraham and Sarah's story reveals that they were far more relatable than many realize. Their inclusion in the Hall of Faith comes not because of their perfection, but because of their willingness to trust God despite their very human failings.
The passage begins in Hebrews 11:8-12:
"By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith, he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive even when she was past the age since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man and him as good as dead were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore."
At first reading, these verses paint Abraham and Sarah as paragons of righteousness filled with unwavering faith. However, their actual story in Genesis reveals a much more complex picture.
Abraham's journey began in Genesis 12 when God called him at age 75 to leave his country and go to a land that would be shown to him. God promised to make him into a great nation—the father of the Jewish people. Abraham believed and obeyed, but his faith journey was marked by significant failures.
When famine struck the promised land and Abraham traveled toward Egypt, fear overtook him. In Genesis 12:11-13, he instructed his wife Sarai to tell the Egyptians she was only his sister (they were half-siblings, but also husband and wife). Abraham feared the Egyptians would kill him to take his beautiful wife, so he was willing to sacrifice her safety and their marriage for his own preservation.
This stands in stark contrast to the biblical model of husbandly love presented in Ephesians 5:25, where husbands are called to love their wives as Christ loved the church—sacrificially, giving himself up for her. Abraham did the opposite, choosing self-preservation over his wife's wellbeing.
Sarah was equally flawed. When she realized she was past childbearing age, she took matters into her own hands in Genesis 16, giving her servant Hagar to Abraham as a wife. When Hagar became pregnant, Sarah grew jealous and vindictive, eventually demanding that Abraham send Hagar and her son Ishmael away—essentially a death sentence in the wilderness.
Later, in Genesis 18, when the Lord appeared and promised that Sarah would bear a son within a year, she laughed in disbelief. Her laughter wasn't one of joyful anticipation but of scoffing doubt. When confronted about it, she compounded her error by lying, claiming she hadn't laughed.
Both Abraham and Sarah made serious mistakes, exhibited fear and doubt, and made questionable decisions. Yet their names appear in Hebrews 11 because of their faith. This demonstrates a crucial truth: believers do not need to be perfect to put their faith in God. Right in the midst of mistakes and messiness, anyone can turn to Him in trust.
The latter part of Hebrews 11:8 reveals another key aspect of faith: "And he went out, not knowing where he was going."
God essentially jumped into the backseat and said, "Drive—I'll tell you when we're there." Abraham didn't have a map, a timeline, or a detailed plan. He simply had God's call and promise.
This reality challenges those who prefer to have everything figured out before taking action. The desire to know all the details and have every plan in place is understandable, but it's incompatible with biblical faith. If believers knew everything, they wouldn't need God.
The point of faith isn't to know everything—it's to know the One who does know everything. This isn't blind faith; it's informed trust based on what God has already revealed about Himself through His past faithfulness, through the cross, through the resurrection, and through His work in the lives of His people.
Many believers will face calls from God that don't come with complete clarity: calls into ministry, overseas missions, church planting, leadership positions, volunteer service, or generous giving. Each time, there will be a sense of "But it doesn't make sense. I don't know what that looks like." And each time, God will simply say, "Trust me."
As Hebrews 11:6 reminds us, faith is what pleases God. Trusting Him even without knowing all the details brings honor and glory to Him while simultaneously working something deeper in the believer's character.
During periods of uncertainty when believers don't know what will happen next, doubts naturally begin to creep in. Doubts about God, about His plan, about personal adequacy. This is when emotions become unstable and self-focus intensifies.
This inward focus likely contributed to Abraham's fearful decision in Egypt and Sarah's cruelty toward Hagar. When people find themselves in that spot, they become consumed with self-concern—the exact opposite of where they need to look.
Hebrews 11:10 reveals what Abraham eventually did: "For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God."
On the surface, this verse describes Abraham looking for a city—representing the nation of people God promised to create through him, ultimately fulfilled in Jerusalem. But the verse goes deeper. Abraham was looking for a city "whose designer and builder is God." He recognized that he wasn't the one who would design or build this dream. The foundation for everything was God Himself.
Rather than remaining focused inward on his own inadequacies and limitations, Abraham lifted his eyes back to the Lord—the One who called him on this journey. The dream of becoming a mighty nation wasn't Abraham's idea; it was God's. Abraham simply needed to keep his eyes fixed upward.
Faith doesn't look inward. Faith looks upward.
Abraham and Sarah clearly made mistakes throughout their journey. Their faith was imperfect and inconsistent. But what made the difference was that when they stumbled, they stumbled forward toward God rather than away from Him.
This principle applies to all believers. When things don't go as expected, the temptation is to turn inward, to spiral into self-focused anxiety and despair. But the call of faith is to turn upward and outward instead—to stumble into God's arms and His grace.
The church planting journey that led to Riverwood Church illustrates this principle. After launching on Easter Sunday 2014, the church averaged only 30 people within the first year. Many of the initial attendees left for various reasons—some said the preaching wasn't good enough, others claimed God wasn't present, some wanted more people their own age, and others expected faster growth.
Outside voices added to the discouragement, with other pastors questioning the approach and suggesting the church should shut down. Two weeks before the first anniversary, the family that was the church's largest financial contributor announced they were leaving. It felt like the end.
But then came Easter Sunday of the second year—supposedly the biggest day for churches. Only one first-time guest attended. During the service, while trying to preach about the resurrection, internal thoughts screamed that the church was dead.
Then came the news: a man who had been attending for several weeks had put his faith in Christ that week. It was God's reminder: "This is my church. You follow me."
The only option was to stumble forward—into God's arms, into His grace, trusting Him to carry what was ultimately His work in His time and His way.
Despite the struggles and imperfections, the author of Hebrews is not negative about faith at all. Instead, he is positively inspired by it, wanting readers to see that faith is absolutely beautiful.
Hebrews 11:12 captures this beauty: "Therefore, from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants, as many as the stars of heaven, and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore."
Abraham was 75 when he heard God's call to follow Him to a new land and become a mighty nation. But Isaac wasn't born until Abraham was 99 years old—a 24-year wait. Imagine the beauty of that moment: hearing that baby's first cry, holding that tiny life in aged arms, seeing God's promise begin to materialize.
That moment was absolutely beautiful. And what made it so was that faith was being made sight.
Abraham experienced joy because he got to see the baby. He got to stand in the land God promised. These aspects of faith became sight for him. However, the complete dream—a great nation inhabiting that land—was not something Abraham lived to see.
Hebrews 11:13-16 explains: "These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus, make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had every opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city."
Abraham was looking for a city whose designer and builder was God (verse 10). That came true—God created the nation of Israel through Abraham's descendants, and they built Jerusalem. Yet that dream was still too small.
God's cosmic dream has never been limited to creating one nation and one earthly city. He has a city in heaven that He wants to populate with people who, like Abraham, aren't perfect and don't know everything, but who put their faith in Him—primarily faith in Jesus. Those who trust in Christ inherit a better country and receive the heavenly city. Abraham was merely the starting point of this much larger plan.
This pattern will characterize many believers' dreams and callings. Some will see portions fulfilled with their own eyes, but not everything. Others will plant seeds they never see grow to fruition—but someone else will.
The dream for starting churches is never simply to gather people on Sundays. The greater vision is to see believers so committed to Jesus that they share their faith at work, school, on sports teams, and in social clubs. As people grow in faith and others come to Christ, churches naturally multiply, missionaries are sent out, and the kingdom expands—whether locally, nationally, or globally.
Simply starting "a Sunday thing" is too small a dream. God always has something bigger in mind. Believers might get to see it fulfilled, or they might not—but it will be made sight because God will accomplish His purposes for His glory and the good of those around.
The encouragement is clear: Don't let your dreams be too small. Let God work in you and through you, and trust Him—even if it means surrendering the dream for someone else to see your faith made sight. Believers don't have to execute it perfectly or know everything. They simply need to avoid turning inward and instead keep stumbling forward. When they live that way, the result will be absolutely beautiful as these things become reality.
Throughout this study, Jesus has been present but not yet explicitly identified. He is the true and greater Abraham, and the parallels are striking.
Genesis 12:1-3 records God's call to Abram: "Now the Lord said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.'"
This call to Abram ultimately points to Christ:
The blessing from Abraham is ultimately the blessing of Christ, the true and greater Abraham.
For those who have never surrendered their lives to Jesus—the true and greater Abraham, the One who perfectly fulfilled what Abraham could only point toward—the invitation stands open. Confession of sin, acknowledgment of Christ's death and resurrection, and surrender to Him as Lord brings entrance into that heavenly city Abraham glimpsed from afar.
For believers struggling with doubt, wanting to have everything figured out before trusting God, the message of Hebrews 11 and Abraham's story provides reassurance. Faith that stumbles forward, that looks upward rather than inward, that trusts even without complete information—this is the faith that pleases God.
The call is not to give mere lip service on Sundays while living the rest of the week unchanged. Rather, it's to let God rule and reign in every part of life. When mistakes are made—and they will be—the response should be to fall forward toward God, to live under His grace, and to extend grace to oneself.
God desires to raise up His people as ambassadors to a hurting, broken world. This requires looking not inward but upward and outward—for His glory, for the good of those around, and ultimately for the joy of those who trust Him.
The faith of Abraham and Sarah demonstrates that God uses imperfect people who don't have all the answers but who choose to trust Him anyway. Their story—and ultimately the story of Jesus, the true and greater Abraham—invites all believers into that same journey of faith that stumbles forward, sees beauty along the way, and will one day be made completely sight.
