October 5, 2024

Romans  4.21 (NIV)

. . . being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

To be "fully persuaded" of the truth of God, is to be fully submissive to it.*

In this verse, Paul is referring to Abraham, so let’s refresh our memories: God promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation. I’m sure he believed God, but when he and his wife passed from old to ancient and still they were childless, he might have started to think he had misunderstood. At any rate, he did what most of us would do - he took matters into his own hands. Long story short: disastrous results; important lesson learned. 

A few years down the road, when God told Abraham to sacrifice the long-awaited son (“sacrifice” as in “kill”), Abraham’s obedience is clear evidence that his previous experience had taught him that God fulfills his promises, even when it seems impossible. Most of us will not have our faith tested in such a dramatic fashion but our experience can still leave us fully persuaded that God has the power to perform the impossible. We know that nothing is impossible with God.

 

But what about the improbable? Is it easier to believe in the impossible than in the improbable? If you were Abraham, you might believe that it is possible that you might become a father at the ripe old age of 100 but is it probable? Abraham’s faith was not just in God’s ability to do the impossible. His faith was in God’s power to do what he had promised.

 

This premise defines my faith. I believe that God has the power to do anything he chooses. If he promises to do it, he will. He is the God of power and kept promises.

Behind all promises lies the character of the person who makes them.*