Romans 4:18-22

“No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God…” vs. 20

When Paul says that faith rather than obedience was the key to Abraham’s righteousness, he wasn’t blowing smoke. It’s faith that draws us into a relationship with God and it’s faith that causes us to “hope against hope” for the fulfillment of God’s promises. Most know what it is to hope, but hoping against hope is hope on steroids. It’s the hope that keeps us going in the face of the impossible. It’s the hope that says, “not yet,” when the doctor says “no more.” We see that kind of hope occasionally on our journey, and maybe we’ve felt it ourselves. It can be a powerful gift, but it’s no shame if we don’t have it. After all, Genesis tells us that Sarah actually laughed when she heard the promise of a child. But faith is about the relationship with God, and sometimes, a lot of times, when we are weak, God is strong. In the course of a lifetime faith will ebb and flow. Sometimes we can get in a groove and go for years with no tests or doubts, and there will be no occasions for testing the strength of our hope. But then comes the challenge, and hope kicks in big time. In those moments the Spirit, who has faithfully been standing by, gives us all the strength we need, and we breathe, “Thank God for faith. I don’t know what I’d do without it!”

Thought for the Day: Times when I’ve “hoped against hope”.