As a child did you play the game of trust? Standing with your back to someone believing they would catch you if you lent backwards and fell into their arms? Did you take a step just before the point of no return and prevent yourself from falling? Did you trust them but you ended up on the ground either because they didn’t try to catch you or tried but weren’t able to? Or did they catch you, and you did it again this time with less anxiety and fear because they caught you last time?
I was blessed to be given access to a press screener of the new film by Angel Studios, His Only Son. Having grown up hearing and reading all the bible stories the plot is not new to me. As an adult I’ve re heard and re read the story multiple times. Seeing it as Angel Studios have depicted it really brought home in a fresh way how faithful God is and how much we can trust him, and how often we don’t.
We have no cause to look back to see if his arms are open ready to catch us, yet how often do we? How often do we take that extra step in our own strength because we don’t trust the path he has given us?
Based on the quality of His Only Son it’s no surprise it’s been a success at the American Box Office. Having watched The Chosen TV series also by Angel Studios I was excited to see a feature length production by them. Christian media has improved dramatically in the past few decades, and I look forward to enjoying their next film.
Trust, the dictionary defines it as a firm belief in the integrity, ability, or character of a person or thing; confidence or reliance.
The benefit we have in 2023 is we have the recorded history from when God created our world till shortly after Jesus ascension in the Bible. We also have a plethora of recorded examples of being able to trust God since then. How many have you personally experienced? I’ve previously written about some of mine.
For Abraham and Sarah it wouldn’t have been easy. His Only Son depicts this very well. The trust that was required to leave everything behind and travel to somewhere new. The trust that they needed to believe God’s promise when they had tried so long to conceive their own child. I have friends who endured years of heart ache trying to conceive. Years of medical visits, years of unsuccessful attempts, and spending enough in the process that they felt the pain of that as well.
It’s easy to understand how Sarah could have come to a place of telling her husband to get their female servant pregnant as was the custom of the time. This wasn’t God’s plan but how often do we try and make his promises happen in our own strength when our timeline doesn’t align with his? How easily God could have said you chose not to trust in me fully the deal is off. But he didn’t. Even though in their human weakness they stepped outside of his plan for them he still gave them their own son. Regardless of God’s faithfulness we still live with the consequences of their actions today.
But if you already know the story you know that isn’t the end of the story. Years later when Issac has grown into a young man God tells Abraham to kill his only son as a sacrifice. Now if you believed you heard God telling you to do that today I’d strongly urge you to talk to other people before doing so. Abraham held firm to the promise of God that the descendants from Issac would be as numerous as the stars in the sky or the sands of the earth. He knew that for that to be fulfilled Issac would be saved before death or resurrected back to life.
As it turned out he was sparred moments before his death. Issac willingly went along with the plan showing us how much faith he had in his heavenly and earthly fathers.
If you get the opportunity to watch this moving depiction of some pivotal people from our history I pray it helps strengthen the relationship you have with God. He is the same God then as he is now. Our world in some aspects has changed dramatically. In other ways we have changed very little. Everyday you have opportunities to trust God not at all, partially, or fully. Learning from the multiple examples illustrated in His Only Son which will you chose?
Three of Neville’s most read articles from 2022:
Neville Hiatt was the 2020 Press Services International Tronson Senior Writers Award Winner for Australia. His previous posts for can be read here.
He spent a decade working for Radio Stations before his career was intermissioned by someone in a hurry to get home from work. For more of his award winning creativity visit http://nevillehiatt.com.
He also blogs for http://altcoincollege.com/covering the way cryptocurrencies and blockchain are changing our world.
