Abraham Believed Anyway

Scripture: Romans 4 (Click Link) When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do. Also he was made father of a multitude of peoples. God himself said to him, “You’re going to have a big family, Abraham!” (Romans 4:18 MSG) The bigger the challenge, the greater the “faith story!” Abraham’s faith story is just about the greatest faith story of all. He believed what God said many years before there was any outward evidence of the fulfillment. He believed what God said even in the face of a challenge to put the fulfillment of the promise on an altar and let it go. The key factor I see in Romans 4:18 is that Abraham made a decision to believe God. He decided to believe God and to live on the basis of what God said and not what he saw. I don’t know what the emotional outcome of Abraham’s decision to believe looked like. I don’t know if he had times when he was really excited and full of anticipation and other times when he was down and discouraged. I don’t know if he made the decision to believe and then rode the crest of the wave or if he had to decide again and again. I, too, have decided to believe God and live on the basis of what God has said he can and will do! But for someone like me, that’s a decision that has to be made again and again. In some seasons the decision has to be made every day! In really tough times, sometimes several times a day! I’m very encouraged by the account of the father of the demon-possessed boy who, when asked by Jesus, “Do you believe?”, cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24 NLT) I wish my faith was bullet-proof. I wish that I could just say, “I believe what God says, and that settles it. End of discussion.” Well, I do believe what God says. I believe it and I’ve decided to live like I believe it. But I find myself over-thinking things, seeing the obstacles to fulfillment, getting stuck in the details of day to day. Then I have to “re-decide” to live not on the basis of what I can’t do but on the basis of what only God can do. Is the faith-life ever like that for you? Prayer: Father, Thanks for being so patient with me. I believe what you have said to me and about me. I decide, I choose, to live like I believe it. It’s not about what I can or can’t do, it’s about what only you can do. Amen.