Tag Archives: Romans 4:18-21

Faith that is fully persuaded

 

 

Which is bigger…your fears or your faith?

 

This past 15 months with Leukemia has not been without challenges, frets, pain and extraordinarily diminished strength. But it also hasn’t been without certain benefits: drawing closer to God, focusing more on relationships, refining one’s focus on priorities, and peace in reflecting on God’s faithfulness, goodness and mercy in the midst of difficulty.

During devotions yesterday, Marcia and I were discussing how we are coping with the situation. We surmised that we are doing well but also realized that someplace deep within, there are questions, doubts, and certain realities that contradict our mental assessment of the situation. It is a bit like driving on an icy road: you are confident the journey will end well, but still very much aware of the perilous plight.

Faith doesn’t only exist in the absence of questions. Faith rises up above them. The passage in Roman’s celebrating Abraham’s faith has always spoken to me about this:
“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 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.” Romans 4:18-21

Did you catch it? “Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead.” And yet he was fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. Faith in the presence of unquestionable facts, hope against all hope.

That is what we face today too. We aren’t called to ignore the facts or pretend they don’t exist. We aren’t even always called to pray the facts away. We ARE called to always be faithful in the presence of our current reality, and to be fully persuaded that God has power to work his will, and that it will be plenty good.

Go ahead, bring your questions, your fears, even your doubts to God about your pain and sorrow. Keep the conversation open both ways and see if you too can find reason against all hope, to be fully persuaded that God will keep his promises to those who love him and believe in him.