WEEK 25 – DAY 3

June 23, 2021

UNFALTERING FAITH

He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. Romans 4:20-21

When we read this passage, we thought, “Whoa, wait a minute! Didn’t Abraham’s faith waiver which produced a son by Sarah’s handmaiden, Hagar?” Yes, but this passage is referring specifically to the period after God made it clear that Sarah was to be the mother of the son of promise (Genesis 15:4-6). As preposterous as it must have sounded that a man over 100 years old and a woman of about ninety (way passed child-bearing years) would have a baby together, Abraham believed that God could do exactly what He promised. According to God’s calendar, by His miraculous power, one can still be a young whippersnapper at a time when most people are on their last legs. God took the accounting book of Abraham’s life and marked down “righteous” because of his belief, his faith in God. God not only promised Abraham a son by Sarah but that his descendants would be so prolific that they would multiply to be like the grains of sand or the stars in the sky. He also promised that there would be kings among Abrahams’s descendants (Genesis 17:6). Staggering promises indeed, but Abraham’s faith did not waver! In fact, when God told Abraham to sacrifice the promised son, Isaac, as a burnt offering, Abraham’s faith in the promises of God did not falter. As he and Isaac left the servants to trudge up the hill to the place of sacrifice, Abraham told them, “Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you” (Genesis 22:5). How could he say that when God had specifically told him to kill Isaac?! The answer is found in Hebrews 11:17-19. Abraham, knowing God had promised to make a great nation through Isaac, reasoned that even if he sacrificed him on the altar, God had the power to raise him from the dead!

Lord, reading about the faith of Abraham, we are convicted about the smallness of our faith. Since You can do the miraculous, why do we wonder if You will meet our needs or enable us to do what You’ve called us to do? We pray as did one father, “Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief” (Mark 9:24).