What Faith Says
...(as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) before God whom he believed, and who raises the dead, and calls those things that do not exist as though they did.
- Romans 4:17
The text here is speaking about Abraham, who is known as the father of our faith. Abraham believed God, although he did not come from a family of believers, nor did he have any cultural clues to help him understand who God was or what He wanted to do. But when God appeared to him and told him to move away from home, Abraham did not hesitate. He followed God’s leading, although he didn’t know exactly where God wanted him to go.
In the process of time, as God continued to reveal Himself to Abraham, a pattern began to emerge. When God said something, it came to pass exactly as God said it would. Perhaps the most dramatic of these occasions was when God said Abraham and Sarah would have a child. Sarah laughed at the thought, but by now Abraham knew that if God said it, He would do it. And a year later, Isaac was born, exactly as God promised. And from Isaac and all his descendants, both in the natural and spiritual sense, Abraham has truly become a father of many nations.
Abraham began to adopt this characteristic that God modeled to him—saying something that seemed to have no basis in reality, but was more real than what could be seen or felt. When God told Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice, Abraham told the men who accompanied them, “You stay here. We will come back shortly.” He didn’t say, “I will come back,” he said, “We will come back.” He recognized that God was going to make him a father of nations through Isaac. Since that was the case, there was no way that God would leave Isaac on that altar of sacrifice. Abraham was certain that even if Isaac died, God would raise him up from the dead to fulfill His promise.
This is the kind of faith that was in demonstration when God spoke the world into existence. He “…calls those things that do not exist as though they did.” God operates that way. Abraham learned to do that, too. And those of us who are of the household of faith can have the same testimony.
What is that promise God made to you? Even though you can’t see it, and can’t touch it, and it seems unreal to you, you can imitate your heavenly Father’s faith, and Abraham’s faith. You can “…[call] those things that do not exist as though they did.”
Faith is not silent. Faith speaks, but it speaks the language of heaven, and not of earth. I encourage you to become fluent in the language of faith, and “… call those things that do not exist as though they did.”
Father, thank You for the blessing of a family. Today, please keep the enemy at bay. Increase their faith. Protect them from falling into temptation. Grant them the opportunity to shine a light in the darkness and lead others to You. Whatever is making my family anxious today, I ask that You comfort them, and that they can rest in Your complete sovereignty. Amen.
Further Reading
- Romans 4:17
- Psalm 46:10
- Hebrews 11:1
