Focal Point

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Today on Focal Point with Pastor Mike Fabarez. As a pastor, I watch people, they are not getting what they want. God is not fulfilling their longings, and they start to isolate themselves. They start to put the Bible on the shelf all week. If I want to build godly patience, I need to keep my nose in the book and my car in the church parking lot. Okay?

Ambitious faith is a kind of faith that says, "I know God has got a plan. I do not understand it. I am just going to throw my whole heart into following Christ, wherever this path takes."

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Dave: It is comforting to read about the faithful men and women of the Bible. Surely they parted oceans, defeated giants, and stopped the rain. But even the heroes of the Bible struggled with their part in God's plan.

Today on Focal Point, we will find encouragement to patiently wait for God's perfect timing and plan. And if anyone knew how hard it is to wait on God, it was Abraham. Mike Fabarez explains what we can learn from his example on trusting God when hope seems lost.

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Pastor Mike Fabarez: Proverbs 13:12 says, "Hope that is deferred makes the heart sick." Longing fulfilled, the next phrase says, "That is the tree of life." I mean, that is just great gratification and fulfillment, but when your hope is there and it is put off, I mean, that just hurts inside.

Abraham, did he ever deal with that? Actually, he did. As a matter of fact, there was a lot of hope deferred in his life. Has God ever had you wait on something you really wanted? Something that you think is right and it is good, and God has confirmed this as the right plan for your life, and then God says, "Oh, not now, though."

Take a look at the text, Hebrews chapter 11, verse 11. It says, "By faith Abraham," even though he was past age, and his wife at 65, no kids, they have kind of given up on babies are us, right? They have been to so many baby showers, but they have never had one for themselves, and they have kind of thought, "Well, I guess life is passing us by there."

And yet, in the end, he was enabled to become a father because the whole time he had to wait. Look at his faith, his resilient, ambitious, strong, sterling faith. He considered Him faithful who had made the promise.

This is the right thing, this is God's path for my life, and God may be saying, "Wait," but it is going to happen. And so it did, verse 12. "So from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and as countless as the sand on the seashore."

You know, it was not the next year after the promise, which would have been hard enough. I mean, every month going, "Hey, is God fulfilling his promise yet?" It was not even the next two years. Five years? 17? Do you know how many years it was until God finally fulfilled the promise for Abraham? 25 years of waiting.

God has made you wait for a few things, I am sure, desires that he has put in your heart. There is that comfort, that sense of, "Yes, God has got," and you wait. Patience, unfortunately, though, is like a lot of Christian virtues. If you aim at it, it is elusive, it is hard to grab, you know. It is one of those things like joy or contentment that if you are aiming at it, you are probably not going to get it. It comes through the means of something else, and that is how patience is.

And so, just as a kind of a little sidebar here, let's just talk about some of the things we should aim at if you want patience. You do not say, "Great, I am going to work on being a patient person." I mean, you have to kind of get it through the means of something else. Let me give you one example, okay, with two parts to it, and that is in Romans chapter 15, real quick, okay?

It is a difficult abstract. How do we achieve it? Well, you have to point at some things, and here is the prescription: Romans chapter 15. And if you read it too fast, you will miss it. So, let's take a good look at what it is saying to us here. Verse number four, Romans chapter 15, verse number four. "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us."

"So that through," here it comes, "endurance and the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope." Now, those are three big words: endurance, encouragement, and hope. Those are the ingredients that spell patience, standing firm, the virtue of biblical patience is a person who is enduring, encouraged, and hope-filled. That is what it is.

Now, we see all those great words surrounding the means or mechanism, and that is, it comes through the scriptures. Do you see that? It is all written there to teach us so that the endurance and encouragement of scripture, we can have hope. If you want to aim at something to become a patient, godly, faith-filled person when God is making you wait, here it is. Here is the first thing in this text, verse number four. You need to keep your nose in the book. You have got to be a person of the Bible. You have got to study the Bible. It is there to teach us. It is written for us to ingest.

You cannot be patient. You cannot have the virtue of patience unless you are ingesting the book. You cannot bring it to church once a week, learn a few stories from the church service, and go home and leave it on your shelf and think you are going to be a patient Christian. You are not. You are going to be a grumpy, nasty, ugly, impatient person who grumbles all the time, unless you are getting the source of biblical divine, virtuous patience. And that comes through the encouragement, and the endurance, and the hope that comes through ingesting the scripture. So, you have got to keep your nose in the book.

And Satan will want to remove. I mean, in our impatience, we do not want to even want to get into the Bible. That is the very thing you need. That is the focus you need to have. You need to get in that Bible study group. You need to get into God's word on a regular basis. That is the thing to point at, and then you will start to say, "Wow, I am becoming a more patient person." God is giving me endurance, and strength, and encouragement, and hope.

Secondly, look at the next verse, verse number five. "May the God who gives endurance and encouragement, give you a spirit of unity among yourselves, as," now this is second-person plural Greek pronoun, which in the south they say, "y'all," right? So, follow this carefully. "Unity among yourselves, as y'all follow Christ Jesus." Are you seeing where we are going now? "May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves, as y'all follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth, you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." "Accept one another, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God."

This now becomes this group focus. Okay? Two things: if I want to build godly patience, I need to keep my nose in the book, and my car in the church parking lot. Okay? And your body in a church activity, in the body of Christ, with other Christians, making a group effort at growing in Christ, as you all follow Christ Jesus.

And again, what is Satan's strategy when I am not getting what I want? It is isolation. I see it all the time. As a pastor, I watch people, they are not getting what they want. God is not fulfilling their longings, and they start to isolate themselves. They start to put the Bible on the shelf all week. You need the Bible more than ever. You need fellowship more than ever. Keep an eye on that. You have got to make sure your nose is in the book, and your car is in the parking lot, your body is in the fellowship. And it is not about a once-a-week thing. You know church is not a once-a-week thing, you know that, right?

The doors of the church are not open just once a week, right? I mean, you are going to find yourself in a small group. You are going to find yourself in Bible study programs. You are going to find yourself in community service projects with the church. You are going to find yourself at even seemingly extracurricular and superfluous church summer picnics. You are going to find yourself at stuff like that going, "You know what, this is what I need as we together find unity, camaraderie, commonality, communion in our fellowship, unity as we all follow Christ together."

If you focus on the fellowship and God's word, the Bible says, you are going to have these things called encouragement, endurance, and I love the word hope. That is patience. And I love the benediction at the bottom of verse 13. Do not skip that. And we could look at all the rest of it, but it is redundant, saying the same things about together serving God, following God. Nose in the book, understanding the scriptures, the prophecies, the Old Testament. It says verse 13, "May the God of hope," I am in Romans 15:13, "fill you with all joy and peace." That is a good kind of patience. "As you trust in Him," that is what it is all about, "ambitious faith." "So that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

And you are looking at someone there who may be made to wait for their longings and desires, and it may be heaven till they get it, it may be years till they get it, it may be months, it may be whatever, the painful pause, and they are filled with hope, a joyful hope. That is what we need. We need that kind of patience. That word patience, I know it just kind of seems like a flat-lined word, but it is filled with words like this, and you and I need that. If God is making you wait, painful, God is still good. You just need to be patient. Some direction on how to do that.

Abraham had to wait. He had to wait. He had to sit there and have God say, "No," to him week after week, month after month, year after year. But then he had his child, a little after Isaac shows up. "Hey, you got your kid! I cannot believe." "Yep, look at my kid." I mean, his chest would swell up, you could see him walking around, "Here he is, yep. That is God is going to reckon my descendants through Isaac. This is the child of promise."

And then one day, the Lord says to him in Genesis 22, "Take your son, your only son, the son that you love." Just want to make it clear, we got the right son in mind here. "Isaac, and I want you to go and kill him." Huh? I want you to take your son and I want you to kill him. It is called a sacrifice. You are going to put him on an altar, you are going to build an altar, you are going to put a fire there. You are going to take him, you are going to kill him, slit his throat, and I want you to burn his body there in this place called Mount Moriah. I am going to show you where it is tomorrow.

Uh, no. I mean, how do you respond to that? That did not make sense. I do not even want to do that. That is a crisis. That is called a test. That is when the plan that seems to be going so well, God says, "Okay, left turn, here it is." Remember those sermons I preached called, "When Life Takes a Left Turn"? Remember that? I mean, God does that to us. He just takes the detour. Okay? I know it looks like you should be going this direction, but I am going to go here. Is that, is your life not filled with those? I mean, I could write a book on that.

Every time I am thinking, "This is it, God! This makes sense! Here it is! Let's map out the path!" "Perfect! Now it is working!" And God goes. Right? "No, that door is now closed. I would like you to go over here now." "But, but, but." See, the crisis is just as painful as the deprivation of waiting. And God may be saying to you right now, "Wait, wait, wait." It may be painful, heart-sickness. But maybe some of you hit the crisis. The door is closed. The hope, the dream, it is just died. The relationship that should have worked out, it is on the rocks. The job that was supposed to be perfect for your future, you were perfectly suited for that. "Oh, sorry, here is the layoff notice. Sorry, we do not want you anymore." Maybe that has happened to you.

Maybe the health. You know, "Here I am, I am going to go, I am going to serve the Lord," and then all of a sudden, "Doctor, you know, you are in big trouble, your health." How do we deal with that? What do we do? How do we respond to that? Well, Abraham had the test, and I know we go real quickly in Hebrews 11 to those words and it just says, "Well, you know, he was asked to offer Isaac." And we become so immune maybe to the power of that, but do not forget the drama of this. I mean, this was huge.

"He who had received," verse 17 says, "the promises, was about to sacrifice his one and only son," and that made no sense, as verse 18 says, Hebrews 11:18. "Even though God had said, 'It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.'" Now, those two things do not equate. "Kill your son," and, "Yeah, you are going to have this great, you know, lineage through Isaac." "Oh, go kill him though, by the way, tomorrow. Would you?"

"Uh, doesn't compute." And there are things that God does in your life, "do not compute," right? His timetable, his template, not just the timing of it, but the direction, the path of your life, it does not always make sense. Here is what you need. You need what Abraham had. It is a kind of ambitious, sterling faith that has the flexibility to say, "I had all my heart and my mind going in this direction, and you shut the door, and now you are saying to go here." "I do not understand it, it does not make sense, but I am flexible enough to go here."

Because here is what most people do. "I am going to kick on this closed door until my toes fall off, because I think this is where I should be going." And God says, "No, clearly closed. I want you to go here now." Are you going to throw your heart into this as wholeheartedly as you were toward this plan? Are you willing to take a detour with God? I mean, are you willing to say, "I'll do it"? That takes an incredible amount of flexibility.

Number three on your outline, just jot it down that way. You and I need flexibility. Be flexible with God's detours because you are going to have them. We have already had some. There is more to come. Because his plan is a little different than your plan. And I know it is very hard for us to understand them. And sometimes we are going to have to think way out of the box. "Why is God doing this?" "Okay, maybe it is the Romans 8:28 thing, maybe he is trying to make me more Christ-like, I do not know." "But no, I do not think that makes sense. I do not know." You may not be able to figure it out.

Maybe like Abraham, you are going to have to think flexibly. Look at verse number 19, Hebrews 11:19. It says, "Abraham reasoned," and this is reasoning out of the box, right, "that God could raise the dead." Now, he had not seen that, but he is thinking, "I guess if you want me to kill him, I will go kill him. I do not know how you are going to reckon my descendants through him. Maybe I am going to kill him and you are going to raise him to life? I do not know, but I am going to do what you told me to do."

He did not hesitate to be flexible with plan B. That is what it looked like, plan B. He was willing to do it. He followed faithfully, even when it did not make sense. He did the right thing. He did not lose his passion. He did not lose his heart. He did not lose his ambition for God. He said, "I am going to do it."

The next morning. Do you know that is how it worked? Think about that. On a very sleepless night, I am sure. Abraham, it says, "the next morning got up, and he took the wood, and he went with his servants, he had the fire, he took his son, and they walked up to a place called Mount Moriah." Which would later be sold to David, this old threshing floor, which would later be built on by his son Solomon, which would later have this gold gilded altar, on which they would sacrifice animals day and night all through Israel's history. An amazing thing. It was the very place where God had asked Abraham to take his son and kill him.

And Abraham said, "It does not make sense. Maybe it is going to be a big spectacular. I do not know, but I will do it." And so off he goes, up the mountain. And his son is going, "Okay, I got the fire, got wood, do not see the lamb here." "The Lord will provide." I mean, can you imagine what is going through his mind at that point? "I do not know what is going to happen. I do not know. I am just following God. I am doing what God says."

He gets there. He lights the fire. He binds his son. He is ready to go. He is going to take the knife. He is going to kill his son, and you know the story. Angel of the Lord, "Do not. Stop." It was just the test. That was all it was, just the test. "Here, here is a ram caught over here in this bush. I want you to take him. Kill the ram instead." What an amazing. How bizarre.

Even after it happened, do you think Abraham said, "Oh, totally makes sense now! I get it!" Do you think he said that? No way! The whole way down the hill, you know he and Isaac were going, "What was that about?" "I do not know." I mean, that was a weird day for them. Now, they did not understand it until Abraham walked into the presence of Almighty God and got a little bit more insight with the mind of Christ to understand what would happen in the shadow of that mountain. And that would be the crucifixion of the Son of God, when the Heavenly Father would take his one and only Son, the Son that he loved, and would willingly go through with a crucifixion so that your sin and mine could be atoned for.

And the symbolism that would be played out on that very mountain typified the ultimate sacrifice of the Son of God on that mountain. And that was the thing that Abraham was testifying to for all biblical history, and he had no clue. No clue.

You may not understand the detours in your life. I will venture to say you probably will not this side of heaven. Understand half of the cards that you pull in the deck of life, and you say, "Wow, why this? This does not make any sense." And God will say, "I have got a plan. I am working out my plan. You may not get it. As a matter of fact, do not even count on getting it." Isaiah 55, we memorized that when we were little kids. It said, "My thoughts are higher than your thoughts. My ways are higher than your ways." And then God just to kind of put us in our place. Let's just make it really clear. "As high as the heavens are above the earth," you know, "That is really how little you are going to understand my thoughts. They are like way up there, man." And you may not understand it, but just keep following me.

Just be flexible, would you? Follow Christ. If it does not make sense, do not moan, do not whine, do not complain, do not grumble, do not get uptight. Ambitious faith is a kind of faith that says, "I know God has got a plan. I do not understand it. I am just going to throw my whole heart into following Christ, wherever this path takes me." Are you willing to do that? That is what Abraham did. And you know what, figuratively speaking, last phrase of verse 19, he did receive Isaac back from the dead, and unwittingly provided the most dramatic template of a father willing to kill his son in obedience to the law of God. That was an amazing thing. And it resonated throughout all biblical history that the father of faith gave us a picture of what it would take for us to be loved and redeemed and forgiven by a holy God.

Be flexible with God's detours. He has got a plan. You may not understand it. But he is working out good in your life. Sometimes he will let you know. Remember Joseph? I bet there are a lot of years he is sitting there going, "I do not get this." "I am just doing what God says. I am just telling my brothers this dream that I had. And now they hate me, they envy me, they are jealous of me. They have thrown me in a pit. They have sold me to traveling marauders. I am a slave. Then I get here, I get thrown in prison. I do not get it." Falsely accused, unjustly prosecuted. And it was not until the last chapter and he says it.

He finally meets up with his brothers and ends up saving the nation that would one day give rise to the Messiah. And he says, "Now I get it." And he says, "You guys meant it for evil." He said, "But God meant it for good." God is good. He has got a good plan. And I love the next phrase. And he says, "Not only did he mean it for good, but he wanted to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." And Joseph did not know the half of it. What God was doing through that.

But you know what? He just kept following. He just kept doing the right thing. He just kept trusting God. If you do that, I guarantee this. The world is going to look at you. You are going to have non-Christians. You are going to have family members that go, "I do not get you. You just pulled a really bad card in your life, and it did not seem to affect you." See, because people are going to answer the question, "How are you doing?" based on how it is going. And Christians do not answer those two the same. "How are you doing?" "I am doing great." If I am faithfully following and trusting in Christ. "How is it going?" "Oh, that is a different question." For the world, that is one and the same. For us, that is going to be a bit different.

And I hope that you have that kind of peace, contentment, and joy that transcends circumstances and people's understanding. One last passage, okay? We have got another minute here. One last passage. There are 12 little books that in the Old Testament, they are called the Minor Prophets. Let's look at number eight, okay? The book of Habakkuk. Habakkuk. Habakkuk is an expansion of Asaph's concern. And that is Asaph says, Psalm 73, "I do not get it, the injustice in this world. What are you doing, God?" And Habakkuk has the same complaint.

Last three verses of the third chapter of Habakkuk. Here is how it ends. He says, "You know what, God, I have heard you. I have gotten a bigger perspective here. I know what you are calling me to do is to trust you, to follow you. Fine then." "Even if it gets worse than it is now." Verse 17, Habakkuk 3:17. "Though the fig tree does not bud, though there is no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there is no sheep in the pens or no cattle in the stalls." And that is all agrarian, all farm talk. But you and I, health in the body, there is no money in the checking account, there is no house, you know, that I own. There is no, there is no 401K that I have. Everything is gone wrong. My relationships are bad. The job has collapsed. Whatever it might be. No matter what, even if that happens.

Here is the resolve of someone who has ambitious faith. "Yet I will rejoice in Yahweh." Verse 18. "I will be joyful in God my Savior. The sovereign Lord is my strength. He is going to empower me. He is going to give me patience. He is going to give me flexibility. He is going to make my feet like the feet of a deer. He is going to enable me to go on to the heights." "I am going to be okay." And you know what, even if everything else goes wrong. That is where the world will not get it.

"How are you doing?" "I am doing great." Praising God. "How is it going?" "Oh, these have been terrible years." Really bad days. But you know what, that did not matter. Because I have got ambitious faith. And like Abraham, if it is a painful pause or a difficult detour, I am going to keep following, keep trusting. God is good. You say that, if I say that, the world will not get it. But that is biblical Christianity, fueled by ambitious faith. Let's pray. God, help us to have that. We need it. When the money is not working out, when the health is not working out, when the insurance and the stocks were a bad investment.

God, I pray that like Habakkuk, we can say, even if all that goes wrong, you know what, we are going to praise God. God is still good. He is going to overcome all evil. He is working good in my life. I am going to be patient. I am going to be flexible. I am going to have the faith of Abraham. Give us that, I pray, in large measure, in Jesus' name. Amen.

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Dave: Trusting God when hope seems lost. That is the title of today's message on Focal Point. It is part of a mini-series from Mike Fabarez called Ambitious Faith. Every message from this program is waiting for you anytime at focalpointradio.org or through the free Focal Point app.

And right now, when you come alongside this ministry with a donation, we would like to put something meaningful in your hands, a book called *Songs of the Sun* by Daniel Stevens. It is a collection of lyrical reflections drawn straight from the Psalms, taking the ancient words of scripture and bringing them into sharp personal focus. The Psalms have always been the language of honest faith, the cries, the questions, the confident in God that outlasts every circumstance. *Songs of the Sun* explores nine Psalms cited in Hebrews, offering us a better understanding of how all scripture, including the Old Testament, reveals the pre-incarnate glory of Christ.

Send your gift today and ask for *Songs of the Sun* by Daniel Stevens. Call 833-205-885 or give online at focalpointradio.org.

Now, Pastor Mike has something important to share.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Thanks, Dave. I would like to invite you to join me September 19th through the 26th, 2026, on a Christian cruise through New England and Canada. We will sail Holland America's Zaandam, known for its elegance and exceptional hospitality, to historic cities like Boston, Halifax, and Quebec City. We will gather for devotional times in God's word, followed by thought-provoking Bible teaching throughout our journey. Grammy-winning musicians Keith and Carly Hancock will lead us in worship. You will enjoy the stunning autumn landscapes as we explore charming coastal villages, all while building friendships with like-minded believers. It is a unique opportunity to deepen your faith and see some of the most beautiful scenery on the Eastern seaboard. Space is limited, so do not wait to sign up. Secure your cabin today at focalpointradio.org.

Dave: I am Dave Drewry, and we will join you here tomorrow for the next lesson in our Hebrew study, a message titled, "Living and Dying with Biblical Confidence." Wednesday on Focal Point with Mike Fabarez.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Hi, Pastor Mike here. God's word promises it will never return void. So I wonder how is God's word moving in your heart right now? Drop us a line. Let us know. We would love to hear from you. We would love to be praying for you here. Just go to focalpointradio.org. And then be sure to join us again tomorrow right here as we continue to explore the depths of scripture. We will see you then.

Dave: Today's program was produced and sponsored by Focal Point Ministries.