Are you waiting for a dream, a hope, or a promise that God has placed within your heart to come to pass? Me too! One of the things that I love to do is to dream about the amazing things that God and I can and will do together. Many of the dreams that He has given me have come to pass or are coming to fruition as we speak. Yes, there are still many things that God has spoken about that my family and I have not seen. This does not discourage me because my gracious heavenly Father has taught me so much about what it looks like to walk into His promises, no longer only reading about them in His Word or remembering the faint whisper of what someone declared over my life that God had showed them.
Seeing God’s promises fulfilled in our lives involves two things: Him and us! Pretty simple, yet sometimes we miss the clearly defined roles laid out for us in the Word. In every relationship or partnership, for things to run smoothly, each person must not only know their role and part, but also be willing to fulfill it. Let’s look at the promise that God gave to Abraham and see how they worked together to bring them to pass.
Romans 4:17-22 says, ” (as it is written, ” I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed-God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “so shall your descendants be.” And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore, “it was accounted to him as righteousness.”
The promise originated with God. Verse 17 says that in the presence of God, He spoke. There is no substitute for spending time and allowing time for God’s presence in our lives, because this is where everything (including our promises) flows from. How many times do we miss what our Father is wanting to say to us because we are too busy or distracted with the cares of this life? We cannot afford to do this, missing not only what God wants to share with us, but forfeiting the grace that comes with His words that enable us to walk out the promise.
God’s role is to speak and initiate, but also to create and give life. Only He has the ability to do this (we also do, but only at His direction and by His authority). Verse 17 also says, ” God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things that do not exist as though they did.” Do you hear that? God gives life to the dead! What is it that is or seems dead in your life or family? It may be something or someone that you have long given up on, but if it is a genuine promise from God, He has not. Beloved, He has held your heart-your dream-in His hands and in His heart. It is just time to believe that He can and that He will! Dead wombs, dead dreams, dead identities, dead marriages, dead hope. Nothing can stand against the God of all Hope! Things that God has declared that we do not see yet, God says those things exist. With God, time and space mean nothing because He is the Creator and holder of all. This means that just because we do not see the answer now, does not mean it does not exist. We simply need to follow His ways to see them manifest!
Because God is relational and humble, He allows us to participate in the process of bringing about His plans. We see this is verse 18 where Abraham had to hope when his circumstances gave him no reason to hope. God is all-powerful, but He gave the responsibility to hope to us. Hope is the effect of a choice. Hope comes as we choose to believe, even when we do not yet see any evidence that God is doing what He said. We choose to believe that He is working, then hope and faith begin to arise. Our problem is that we want to believe after we begin to see God moving, but God requires the opposite of us. He does this to bring us out of the natural realm, into the supernatural realm, where He operates. Our Father is so interested and drawn to His people, that He wants us so near to Him! Every time that I have chose to believe before I saw the promise come to pass, I could literally feel faith, hope, and grace rise up in my spirit to overcome any obstacle in front of me!
Verse 19 shows us something else that Abraham did: he did not consider his own body (nor Sarah’s). This gives us some practical insight into how we walk in faith. We cannot look at anything that opposes what God has said. This is described as being weak in faith. Our faith has not reached maturity if we are looking at the seen. For example, when God says that He loves us, we cannot sit around thinking about all the junky stuff that falls into our brain, telling us that He really does not. If God promises provision, sitting around adding up your bills, money (or lack thereof) is not a smart idea. Obviously, we need to budget, work hard, and plan, but if we are doing all that God has asked us to and are giving and tithing, then we need to keep our eyes on our Provider and on the promise. Do not consider your lack. Instead consider His riches!
In verse 20 it says that Abraham did not waver at God’s promise through unbelief. Sometimes our life experiences have made it hard for us to believe God and that He really is good. I wrestled with this issue for years because of the abuse, rejection, and neglect that I experienced as a young girl and later in life. As my heavenly Father tended to those wounds, it became much easier to believe Him because I knew Him. I saw what He was like. We have to choose to both believe Him and allow Him to remove all hindrances and wounds that keep us from seeing Him clearly.
In verse 21 we see Abraham’s faith come to full maturity. He was at the place where he was fully convinced. He knew that what God said would come to pass. He stuck in there when everything pointed to him not becoming a father of many nations. Having faith does not mean that we are never tempted to doubt, fear, or to not believe. It does mean that we know our God well enough to know that He is absolutely faithful, trustworthy, and loves us more than we could ever imagine! Living from this place enables us to walk into the fullness of all that God has planned for us. And that is exactly what Abraham did. This is exactly what we can do, too!