My thoughts today are from my quiet time reading in Romans 4, where God through the Apostle Paul reminds us of Abraham's faith. I was stopped short in vs. 19-25.
"Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform."Isn't it amazing how God uses a verse or a passage we've read a thousand times to reach into the recesses of our heart and touch a fresh chord? He did that with this passage for me. He encourages me not to become weak in faith and to think that what He has promised is 'as good as dead' because weeks, months, years pass without the promise coming to pass. Just because we don't see God at work doesn't mean that He isn't working. We just aren't seeing it. He always has our good and His glory in mind. Always.
The Apostle Paul goes on to say that not only did Abraham not waver in unbelief, but that his faith grew strong. If you're like me, we do tend to waver. We want to believe, yet there's the absence of the promise, the teetering of hope. We need to strengthen our faith. But how? How do we become stronger when we feel so helpless and weak? We go to God's Word and continue on. The tendency is to wander from His Word, but we must not waver here. We can only grow stronger as we grow closer to Him, drawing on His strength where we are weak. We gain strength as well when we listen to God's people as they recount His faithfulness, and we're caused to see once again that God is at work in the lives of His children. We let His Word and His people and His Holy Spirit encourage and strengthen us.
I believe there's a key here as to why Abraham's faith grew strong. He gave glory to God--in the midst of waiting and wondering. Giving God glory strengthens our faith because we focus on Him. That's why we're told that whatever we do, we're to do all to the glory of God (I Cor. 10:31). It's for our good and for His glory. Everything is.
What God has promised, He is able to perform. But we must be sure that it is, indeed, His promise to us. Several years ago I was thrown into a tailspin because something that I believed was God's promise was not coming to fruition. In fact, what was happening was totally opposite. It was not an Abraham kind of situation. It was my notion of a promise to be fulfilled, as wonderful a notion as it was, that God would bless a particular endeavor. It was a God-glorifying endeavor to be sure, but as I searched the Scriptures in my disappointment, I found that He had not promised to reward that endeavor in the way I believed He would. Unlike Abraham, my faith wavered. Sad to say, I did not draw near to God or to His Word for strengthening of my faith. But God, in His great faithfulness, drew me back to Himself. He taught me about His ways as He walked with me through those troubled waters. Oh, the kindness and goodness of God that brings us to repentance! (Rom. 2:4)
What God has promised, He is also able to perform. While we wait, we ascribe to Him all majesty, glory, and honor. We exalt His goodness, His faithfulness, His holiness, His power, His grace. His abundant grace while we wait. Even when we feel like something within us is 'as good as dead'.
Painting ~ A Quiet Read, Ludovico Marchetti 1853-1909
Wikigallery public domain
