Meditations On Faith - 4

Faith Sees Life Where
There Is Only Death

"Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed . . . being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised." (Romans 4:18)

Being `about a hundred years old,' Abraham understood that his body was as good as dead - ‘and that Sarah's womb was also dead.’ (Rom 4:19). Yet Abraham was ‘fully persuaded that God could bring life from the dead.’

Faith, therefore, does not rest on the seen evidence, but on the faithfulness of a God who can raise the dead - on the faithfulness of a God whose promises cannot fail.

Those of us who have come to realise that we share a nature that is utterly depraved, a nature that is spiritually dead, can draw tremendous hope from this fact of faith, for it assures us that we need not look upon our wrinkled spirituality, and we need not lament over the dryness of our dead spiritual branches. If God brought forth an entire nation from one woman's dead womb, He can and will bring life to our souls - he will cause fruit to grow on our dry, leafless limbs - first the bud, then the flower, then the fruit. 

If others have entertained a hope that was absolute, and this despite the fact that there was absolutely no hope, we too can look beyond the impossibilities suggested by the irrefutable evidence, and we can see, through the eye of faith, the absolute surety of the promises. 

Whenever despondency gets a grip on your soul, therefore, consider the nation of Israel - a living reality that had its beginnings in a dead womb - a nation that owes its very existence to the faith of one who took hold of the promises; one who saw life where there was no life; one who entertained hope though there were no rational grounds for hope; one who refused to ponder on the obvious improbabilities but who resolutely fixed his faith on the glorious possibilities; one who was "fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised."

How generous is our God, and how kind? Can He not answer your most urgent prayers? Can He not bring life out of a dying faith? Can He not bring life out of a cancer-riddled body?

`He is watching over you, trembling child of God. Are you tempted? He will deliver. Are you weak? He will strengthen. Are you ignorant? He will enlighten. Are you wounded? He will heal. The Lord "telleth the number of the stars;" and yet "He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds." Ps. 147:4, 3

No matter who you are, no matter how dead your spirituality, no matter how cold might be the fingers of death, you may hear His invitation, "Come unto Me."

"Whatever your anxieties and trials, spread out your case before the Lord. Your spirit will be braced for endurance. The way will be opened for you to disentangle yourself from embarrassment and difficulty. The weaker and more helpless you know yourself to be, the stronger will you become in His strength. The heavier your burdens, the more blessed the rest in casting them upon the Burden Bearer.’ (DA329)

Yes, regardless of how hopeless the situation may appear to be, faith can take hold of the promises and turn lost causes into fulfilled promises and answered prayers. More than this, we can find great comfort in the knowledge that ‘the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace.’ (Rom 4:16). In other words, the substance of the promise does not come to us as a reward for anything that we are, or for anything that we might have done. When the promise becomes reality, it will only be as an unmerited favour - as an undeserved gift that we receive in exchange for simple faith - a gift that we receive, "without cost," from our kind, generous and unbelievably gracious heavenly Father.

`To the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.’ (Ephesians 1:6)

"Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed . . . being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised." (Romans 4:18)