Romans 4:19: And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb:
Romans 4:20: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
I love the example of Abraham and his faith. The New Testament uses him as an illustration a few times, with Romans 4 being one of the most instructive. His faith is what saved him, and he is the father of all of us that believe too. Read the chapter - it's all in there.
Well, when we get to vss. 19-20 of that chapter we are told that Abraham was not weak in faith. We are told that Abraham did not stagger at the promise of God through unbelief. The illustration being used is when God told Abraham that he was going have a child. At the time, Abraham was 99 years old! Again, Abraham was strong in faith... staggered not...
So, with that in mind, when I recently read the account in Genesis 17, the following verse stuck out to me:
Genesis 17:17: Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall [a child] be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
Ok... putting this all together: Abraham was not weak in faith; he did not stagger at the promise of God through unbelief, yet Abraham's response to God's promise: "Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed..."!
What do we learn from this? Some of what God says will be quite difficult to understand at first. That is ok. It is not a lack of faith to be surprised, or to even doubt what we believe God is doing or would have us to do. But, here's the difference between Abraham and what many others, un-believers, would do: Abraham went forward in his actions based upon the promises of God.
What do I mean by that? Well, um, Abraham was 100 (ok,99), and his wife was 90 years old. Ok? They both doubted what God was saying to them. They both laughed at it. Yet, at the same time, Abraham's faith convinced him that God was true. So, what did he do? Maybe he went to the grocery store, brought her a basket of mandrakes, a nice bouquet of lilies, (I should stop now!)...
Anyway, what's my point? God's call may sound unbelievable to us at first, but once we are sure that God is leading, then we must do what is necessary to be obedient to God's call!
Just a wrinkly thought....
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