”And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.” Hebrews 11:12
In putting our faith in God for our salvation we become a part of Abraham’s line - the father of faith. One of the reasons is our savior, Jesus, was a descendant of Abraham. The other is he believed in God which was credited to him as righteous. In other words, it is as if God said, ‘You have put your faith in me with ‘your’ son’s birth, I will save you through ‘my son’s’ birth. And Abraham believed with a smile on his face. In fact, he laughed when God told him he’d have a son with Sarah. Because of this joyful faith in God, God told him to name his son Isaac, ‘laughter’. And just Like Abraham, we will find our joy when we find…
OUR STRENGTH IN GOD…
”Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead - since he was about a hundred years old - and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.” Romans 4:19
The reality of Abraham’s situation was he had little to no power left in his body to reproduce. His body was as ‘good as dead.’ I mean, he was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 - slim hopes for a promised son to happen. And yet there was God. Faith looks to the power and strength of God, relying on His Word. This ‘kept’ Abraham from becoming weak in his faith. But when he looked to himself or to a secondary source for a son (Sarah / Hagar) it got messed up. Stay strong in the faith by holding on to the Word of God.
…TO BE STABLE IN LIFE.
”Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God.” Romans 4:20-21
If we weaken in our faith it will cause us to waver in our belief. Confusion and doubt set in and we start vacillating as to just what God actually did say (the serpent and Eve). Then we start seeking other opinions, which usually only confuses us more. The word ‘waver’ means to withdraw from a position with an angry, contentious spirit. Rather than seeking God to judge and bring justice, we begin to judge for ourselves and seek our own brand of justice. To his credit, Abraham did not become agitated with the Lord because of the time it took for the promise to happen. He stayed true to God and was able to laugh about it later.
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