“And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness” Genesis 15:5-6.
Faith is believing the unbelievable. An elderly man without natural child is given the outrageous promise of vast descendants. Audacious as the promise was, Abraham dared take God at His word.
The writer of Romans describes it well: “In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” 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. Therefore it was also credited to him as righteousness” Romans 4:18-22.
“Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead.” Faith is not a blind leap, but rather it realistically assesses the situation. Keenly aware of his age, Abraham could easily have weakened in his faith. With childbearing years long past, God’s promises could naturally have been assessed as impossible.
But, “with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith.” Just how Abraham grew strong in faith we are not told, but how we wish we were! In the face of the impossible, how do we grow strong in faith? The only apparent answer is that if Abraham did, we can as well.
It has been said that life is filled with great opportunities cleverly disguised as impossibilities. As those of the faith of Abraham, we are called, not to see what is apparently impossible, but rather the God of all possibilities. May we face this day with this resolute faith of Abraham, who serves as our great example of faith.
©Steve Taylor, 2025--Used by permission
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