Week #16 Romans 4:20-21

Week 16: Romans 4:20-21

"Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised." NIV

First off thank you Jeremy for asking me to write this blog. At first I was a little nervous because sometimes I think, "Patsy you're not as seasoned a Christian as these other people, what can you offer someone who already knows more then you, you're just going to make yourself look like a fool because you don't know the Bible as well as them." Funny those horrible little thoughts pop up from the enemy because the verse I picked is all about having unwavering faith. It doesn't matter what stage in your walk you’re at, or how many verses you have memorized, what really matters is your personal relationship with the Lord and no one can tell you or me that relationship is not there or lacking; only you and the Lord know. There are so many great promises in the Bible that we need to stand on, so having a group like this is such a great way to dig a little deeper into all that God has in store for us. 

The title to the whole chapter of Romans 4 is “Abraham Justified by Faith”. I'm actually going to speak a little bit about this whole chapter not just the verse that I have picked to move on.  Abraham believed in God, he had faith to the very end that he was going to get a promise that God gave him: to have a son. The interesting part about this is that Abraham and Sarah had to wait 75 years for this promise to be fulfilled! Can you imagine knowing God made you a promise, but having to wait 75 years to see it come to pass. I would definitely have started losing faith probably after the first week! There was a point in that 75 years that Abraham and Sarah tried to take it into their own hands.  Sarah told Abraham to sleep with Haggar and in that Ishmael was born which resulted in the decent of Islam into the world. That just shows us how dangerous it is to take matters into our own hands. We need to keep faith that God has what is best for us in His will for us. When we take the lead and try to do things on our own it's not what is God's best for us. 

The first part of the chapter in verse 3 says "Abraham believe in God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." and then later in verses 7 and 8 it states, "Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them." Those promises right there blow me away! Because those promises cover every single believer, none of us have to worry about our sins being held against us.  It even says that we will be blessed because of it! What a great reminder of what Jesus did on the cross for us and how blessed we are to be able to share that promise with others so they can enjoy His promises as well. 

As that chapter continues it states that the promise comes by faith. Against all hope Abraham believed even though he knew his body was old and Sarah's womb was dead. Through all that he still believed! I don't know about you, but if that were me I can surely say that my faith would waver. I would be thinking this is hopeless we're never going to have a son. But we have Abraham to give us a great example of faith as Romans 4:20-21 states, "Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised." I love how the Message writes these verses, Romans 19-25, “Abraham didn't focus on his own impotence and say, ‘It’s hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child.’ Nor did he survey Sarah’s decades of infertility and give up. He didn't tiptoe around God’s promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said. That’s why it is said, ‘Abraham was declared fit before God by trusting God to set him right.’ But it’s not just Abraham; it’s also us! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless. The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God." That verse is so encouraging! For Abraham it was having a son, but for you it could be a different aspect of your life. This verse could apply literally to every single aspect of your life! We have to trust in God for everything because we just simply CANNOT do this alone. And with Abraham's example we know it's possible because we have Jesus living in us, it's not even our own strength. Abraham didn't question God enough to the point where he was doubting Him. To me that's crazy, I definitely know I would if I had been in his position. I am 100% guilty of sometimes not having as much faith as I should. But this week that will be what I stand on a daily basis, because it says, "the same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless." We are declared fit before God! How great of a promise is that!

I know that I lack faith and it's something I can work on daily. So this week I am going to stand on trusting and believing on a DAILY - every hour, minute and second that goes by - that my God knows exactly what He has promised me and the Bible says He will deliver that promise! I will not lack or waver in my faith this week or from here on out and I will be strengthened in faith and give all the glory to God in EVERY aspect of my life! I hope you take this same stance on this week’s promise and join me!