“Who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”” Rom 4:18 (NKJ)
What value do you personally place on God’s promise to you? I ask that question because experience has repeatedly shown that God’s word cannot accomplish much in you unless it means everything to you. So long as you think that you have a workable alternative to trusting in God, your faith in His ability to come through for you will be fatally undermined and His word will not work for you. As Mother Theresa alluded, you can only truly say that God is all you have when God is all you’ve got.
When God told Abraham that he would have a son through Sarah, he initially laughed at that preposterous proposition because they were both long past child bearing age. But when God reassured him and affirmed that He meant business, Abraham believed and it was accounted to him as righteousness. Abraham believed that he had received Isaac the very moment God spoke to him, but then had to wait for twenty-five years to see the physical manifestation of that promise. In the intervening years, it was his hope or certain expectation of receiving that promise that kept Abraham’s faith alive and the primary reason he ultimately received Isaac. Abraham chose to hope when the reason for hoping was no longer there (their reproductive abilities having ceased) and when it seemed foolish to expect God’s promise to become a substantial reality to him; that hope nurtured his faith to maturity and also led to the birth of Isaac.
Has God promised you through His written or expressly and specifically spoken word that He would resolve your situation, but rather than improving and getting better it has steadily deteriorated? Has God promised to totally heal you but the sickness has progressively worsened? What about your fast crumbling marriage that God promised to heal and restore or the wayward child that seems to have been lost to you forever despite God’s promise that He would bring the prodigal home?
The simple reality is that God’s word is just as true today as when He spoke it fresh. Its vitality is undiminished. So, it is up to you to either prove the reality and truth of God’s word in your life or discount it by your actions. The bible says: “Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: “That You may be justified in Your words, and may overcome when You are judged.”” Rom 3:4 (NKJ)
Your choosing to prove the veracity of God’s word in your life might necessitate your hoping against hope. The other option requires you to do nothing and just give up, resigned to maintaining the status quo. However, as God admonishes “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.” Deut 30:19-20 (NKJ) Win or lose; it is ultimately your choice.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I choose life today, life in you rather that in the world. Help me to take the appropriate actions today, so that I may make the transition from helplessness to hope and faith in you.