“No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God,
but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that
God was able to do what he had promised.”
Good seed that took all those years to germinate.
Last week I dreamt about those words. (Is this an
illustration of Psalm 1:2?) I woke and wrote, compelled to remember.
Abraham’s story instructs my story.
“No distrust …” Abraham had a choice—to trust or distrust.
Circumstances offered a strong case for distrust. Nothing in his life
experience led to the trust option. It was crazy!
He chose trust anyway.
Trust in a promise, a hope, a character - trust in God who
stood behind the promise.
They were generic promises … God is good; God is omniscient,
God is omnipotent.
They were specific and personal promises … Sarah will
conceive; God will provide a lamb. “In hope he believed against hope … he did
not weaken in faith …” (Romans 4:18 and 19).
And he grew strong in his faith. Growing is a process. I
imagine Abraham was a different man at 100 years old than he was at 98.
Scripture records two keys to his growth:
·
He gave glory to God.
·
He was fully convinced that God was able.
Abraham knew where the credit belonged and in humility he
placed it in there.
His humility shines in the second key as well; He was fully
convinced that God was able. He was
convinced of God’s ability; He did not
presume how God might work.
God is not asking me to have an Abraham-sized faith; He is asking
for a Sue-sized faith as I walk through my personal family issues.
Will I trust? Will I
believe the promises of God, the generic ones and the specific ones He has
spoken to me? How badly do I want to grow? Will I be humble and give the glory
to God in my family situation? Will I believe God is able or when I think about how he should show himself, do I have him in a box?
What about you? What issues in your life might God through
Abraham be speaking to?
Will you pray for me? I will pray for you.
“That is why his
faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” But the words “it was counted to
him” were not written for his sake alone, but
for ours also. It will be counted to us “who believe in him who raised from
the dead Jesus our Lord,”
Romans 4:22, 23, and 24 (bolding mine)
Sue, thank you for this post...been chewing on it since Thursday. My mind says I believe. His past faithfulness has given volumes of proof to continue to believe...I think my short circuit comes in the form of not ACTING on that faith...not taking the tent down to move to the unknown city. Of not 'having' the intimacy that would allow the miracle ( I can hear Sarai--"Abe, sweetie...not tonight"). I KNOW God is able. And I know He desires to take me to higher heights, but son where in my brain, for some reason, I continue to say, "not tonight"
ReplyDeleteI will pray for you. Please pray this old follower of Jesus will put feet to her faith.
Thank you for sharing Carrie. I know many of us concur with your words ... not having the intimacy that would allow the miracle. WOW, it could not have been stated better.
DeleteMay we both put feet to our faith! Praying.