July 18: Of faith, Abraham and Sarah

1 Chronicles 26:12-27:34

Romans 4:13-5:5

Psalm 14:1-7

Proverbs 19:17

Rom 4:19-21 "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.  Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised."

Everyone needs an Abraham and Sarah in their life.  

It's difficult to imagine just how impossible God's promise to them - not just one child, but descendants that outnumbered the stars - must have seemed, given how old they already were when He made the promise.  It's difficult to appreciate just how much harder it must have been to believe the promise with each day that passed, leaving them one day older.  

But even without knowing how or when God was going to fulfill His promise, Abraham's faith in the One Who made the promise and, consequently, in the promise itself, did not waver, despite the inexorably tightening grasp of age and the impossibility of fatherhood that came with it. 

"Without weakening in his faith".  I wish I could say that of myself.  God has made me - us - so many promises, but don't you find that in this increasingly secular, self-gratification focused world, it is increasingly difficult to stay focused on Him and His promises?  I often find my vision of Him clouded by worry - for our relationship with Him, for the development of our children's relationship with Him, for many things.  As a parent who trusts in Him, I am inspired by our friends, whose daughter has been so very gravely ill for so many years.  And I am in awe of how firmly they have clung to God.  They are my Abraham and Sarah.  As a father seeking to provide for his family, I am inspired by my own parents who, during a difficult period, went literally day-to-day needing God's just-in-time provision.  I am still in awe of how my mom took what worry she might have felt and channeled that into fervent prayer to God. They are my Abraham and Sarah.  

Father, help us learn from the many Abraham and Sarah examples you bring into my life.  May we develop the same unwavering faith that will allow us to be Abraham and Sarah to others.