Faith certainly tells us what the senses do not, but not the contrary of what they see; it is above, not against them. —Blaise Pascal
Sometimes, all this talk about belief starts to feel kind of fuzzy and “out there.” Thankfully, Scripture has given us many, many flesh-and-blood examples of what belief can look like. In my opinion, Sarah and Abraham are great examples—not because their belief in God was perfect, but because they’re such good examples of the struggle to take God at His Word.
When we pick up their story in Genesis, they’re way beyond a midlife crisis. They’re a nice couple, but they’re coming up on their hundredth birthdays and they don’t have any children. (A major downer, particularly in their culture where status was directly linked to offspring). At this point, it’s game over. But then God makes a promise—a promise so unbelievable that it shook their belief to the core:
Abraham fell face down, and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: you will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.” (Genesis 17:3-6)
That’s a lot to dump on a man who is 99 years old! We will watch their belief unfold in the passages ahead, but what about you? This same God has given us a lot of promises through the prophets, the apostles, and His Son. How do you respond to promises that seem too impossible to be true? What are the boundaries of your belief?
God of Abraham, show me just one place where my beliefs don’t align with who You are. Show me a promise that I don’t have the faith to claim. Then, take me beyond those boundaries into a deeper walk with You. Amen.