A Faith We Can Live By - Part 2

The faith of Abraham through which he was justified by God and lived before God was a faith that trusted in the One who "gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist" Romans 4:17. This is our faith as his children of faith. We, too, trust in a God who can create in us clean hearts and godly desires and sacrificial love and wisdom from above WHERE NONE EXISTS.

But there is MORE to this faith we live by. It is also a faith that believes "in hope against hope" v.18. There are two hopes here. The first hope has its source in GOD. The second hope has its source in human ability. Remember that BIBLICAL HOPE is "confident expectation." It is a confident expectation that God will do good to me and for me and in me all the days of my life and unto eternity. This hope rests in the unchangable character of God and the completed work of Christ and the expressed PROMISES of God in His Word.

Human hope, however, has its limits. Abraham's hope of a human heir (a son) through whom the promise of God would be fulfilled was beyond its limit when he was nearly 100 and his wife nearly 90. They were beyond child-bearing age. Human hope was nil.

But against all human hope Abraham still believed because he looked away from his old body and Sarah's old body and found hope in the PROMISE of God ("I will make of you a great nation..." Genesis 12) and the GOD of promise. He was "fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised" v.21. And so he had hope for a future that humanly COULD NOT be and in the present BELIEVED.

Is your faith failing because you are searching in frustration to find a source of HUMAN HOPE? Perhaps you are looking:

• To find love within your cold, self-absorbed heart, or
• To become successful in ministry by your efforts or slick strategies, or
• To overcome a habit that has successfully resisted years of prayer and discipline, or
• To find the determination to obey in an area where you've always put it off until next week, or
• For some reason, any reason, to believe that your life will be different next month or next year.

What do you need? You need to LOOK AWAY from yourself and your resources and your track record and your emotions and the evaluations of others and find HOPE in the PROMISES OF GOD and the GOD OF PROMISES.

With HIM there are the infinite resources of the Almighty, All-Knowing, Everywhere-present, Giving-His-Only-Son-Loving God. And when HE says:

• I will supply all your needs (Philippians 4:19), or
• I will give you an abundance of needed wisdom (James 1:5), or
• I will give you power, love, and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7), or
• I will give you My Spirit so that you can overcome sinful habits (Luke 11:13), or
• I will clear the way before you so that you can always know and do My will (Proverbs 3:6), or
• I will pursue you with unfailing love all the days of your life (Psalm 23:6)...

HE MEANS IT. Rise in the God-given HOPE expressed in His promises and TRUST HIM for RIGHT NOW.

I cannot trust God now if I don't believe that He has guaranteed a good future for me. He HAS promised that (Jeremiah 29:11)...so, in the strength of that HOPE, TRUST HIM today for every humanly impossible situation and problem.