What Strong Faith Looks Like
Romans 4:19-21 NKJ
And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.
I love how the scriptures give us examples that we can learn from. What is written was written for us. And so, we can benefit by looking at what people in the Bible did or did not do to learn from their experiences. Learning from someone else is a preferable method. Experience is a great teacher, but it has no mercy. Learning from someone else’s experience can show us a better path or help us avoid the wrong one. Abraham’s example in our verses for today is a great example of what strong faith looks like.
Abraham was given a promise by God that he and Sarah would have a son. The problem was that Abraham was about 100 years old and Sarah was 90. And Sarah had never been able to have children when she was in her twenties. But Abraham was strong in faith. He did not get caught up in his age and the age-related problem he faced personally. Nor did he get sidetracked by Sarah’s infertility problem. He was not in denial. Abraham simply looked beyond the physical limitations that he and Sarah were facing to what God had promised. Strong faith is not denying the obvious; it simply looks beyond the obvious to the promise of God.
And he did not waver at the promise through unbelief. A better understanding would be that he did not separate himself from the promise of God through unbelief. I am sure Abraham had multiple opportunities to separate from God’s promise. But he did something that helped him strengthen his grip on what God had promised. I like the New King James translation here because it makes things clear. Abraham was strengthened in his faith by giving glory to God. So Abraham’s faith was made stronger as he gave praise and glory to God before anything took place. Strong faith praises God before seeing the answer. But the very act of giving God praise serves to make the faith we have even stronger.
Abraham was fully convinced that what God had promised, He was able to do. That’s a great sign of strong faith. Jesus asked a couple of blind men if they believed He could heal them. They answered yes, Lord. Strong faith believes God can do what he promised. Notice that strong faith believes God can do it. Strong faith has not figured out how God can do it. This is where we can lose our grip on a promise. By trying to figure out how God will do what He promised is not in our wheelhouse. It’s above our pay grade. We learn from Abraham and just go with God is able not how it will get done.
Application
We must start with a promise from God. What has He spoken to your heart and confirmed with His Word. We don’t just pick a promise or believe in what God did for someone else. Then we stick with the promise instead of focusing on the obstacles that stand in our way. We praise and give glory to God believing what He promised He can do. Rejoice and repeat. Abraham had strong faith, and we can as well.
Prayer
Thank You, Lord, for Your promises to me. Thank You that I can become stronger in my faith as I give You glory and focus on what You said. This is not a formula, this is how I live and walk before You!