Day 4 of 5 — Pioneering Faith. About 3 minutes.
He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Romans 4:20-21
In May 1854, Elisha Graves Otis stood on an open hoist platform inside the Crystal Palace exhibition hall in New York. A crowd gathered below as the platform was raised high into the air. Then Otis ordered the hoisting rope cut with an axe. The crowd expected to watch the platform crash to the ground. Instead, it dropped only a few inches and stopped. Spring-loaded catches had snapped into the guide rails, exactly as Otis had designed them to do. Otis was willing to stand on that platform because he knew what was underneath his feet. He trusted the system he had built to hold him when the rope was gone. A man is willing to put his weight on something when he is convinced it will hold.
Abraham’s obedience rested on that kind of certainty. Romans 4:20 says, “20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God.” Staggering is what happens when there is nothing solid underneath you. Your feet start searching for something that will hold. But Abraham had something solid beneath him. He had the promise of God. Before God asked Abram to leave his country, his kindred, and his father’s house, God told him what He would do. Genesis 12 is filled with the words, “I will.” God would show him the land. God would make of him a great nation. God would bless him. God would make his name great. The command was costly, but Abram did not step forward depending upon his own strength. He stepped forward standing on what God had said.
Paul explains it a few verses later: Abraham was “fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform” (Romans 4:21). Notice where Abraham’s confidence rested. He was not fully persuaded that he could handle whatever came next. He was fully persuaded that God could do what He had promised. That is an important difference. Faith is not confidence in yourself. Faith is confidence in God. And God’s promise was never meant to stop with Abraham. God told him, “thou shalt be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2). God would work in him so that He could work through him.
God may not be asking you to leave Kailua for a country you have never seen, but He may be asking you to take a step that still feels costly. Teach the class no one has stepped up to teach. Speak to the neighbor you have been meaning to invite to church. Have the conversation you keep putting off. Sometimes we stall because we measure the step against our own strength, and our strength does not seem sufficient. But it was never supposed to be. “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). So take the step God has made plain this week. Do not stand on your ability to make everything work out. Stand on the promise of the One who called you. When everything else feels uncertain beneath your feet, His Word will still hold.
Growth principle: Obedience becomes possible when the weight of it rests on what God has promised to do.
Take it with you: Write down the promise of God that covers the step you have been delaying, and take that step this week.
Pause and pray: Father, I have been measuring what You asked of me against what I can manage. Forgive me. You have never failed to do what You said. Give me faith to move today on Your promise. Amen.
From Sunday’s message: Faith That Leaves Comfort Behind (Genesis 12:1-4)
Recent Comments