"He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;" Romans 4:20
There are many things in life that oppose God's promise to us. And to be clear, they are real, and if we make them the focus of our attention, they will stagger our faith. For Abraham, it was old age. Naturally speaking, it had long passed the age of child bearing for him and Sarah his wife. Yet, God had promised that he was going to have a son through his wife Sarah.
To stagger is to be unbalanced in one's walk. Abraham refused to be staggered in his faith by the reality of his physical condition, counting God able to bring to pass His promise in spite of the age problem of both him and Sarah. We all have natural obstacles in our lives that challenge the validity of God's promises to us, but we can like Abraham, refuse to be staggered in our faith by them. It's not really the obstacles that threaten our faith the most, rather, it is unbelief. No matter what the obstacles are, if there is no unbelief, they are not able to deflect us from the promise of God. Abraham refused to disbelieve God on account of every thing in the natural that pointed him to the unreasonableness of believing that what God promised could come to pass.
Instead of staggering, he grew his faith. But how could he have grown his faith? He may have considered the faithfulness of God; the antecedents of God known to him, and came to a reasonable conclusion that it was reasonable to trust that God could bypass the obstacles of old age in him and Sarah and make good His promise to him. This way, Abraham grew his faith.
Toni
There are many things in life that oppose God's promise to us. And to be clear, they are real, and if we make them the focus of our attention, they will stagger our faith. For Abraham, it was old age. Naturally speaking, it had long passed the age of child bearing for him and Sarah his wife. Yet, God had promised that he was going to have a son through his wife Sarah.
To stagger is to be unbalanced in one's walk. Abraham refused to be staggered in his faith by the reality of his physical condition, counting God able to bring to pass His promise in spite of the age problem of both him and Sarah. We all have natural obstacles in our lives that challenge the validity of God's promises to us, but we can like Abraham, refuse to be staggered in our faith by them. It's not really the obstacles that threaten our faith the most, rather, it is unbelief. No matter what the obstacles are, if there is no unbelief, they are not able to deflect us from the promise of God. Abraham refused to disbelieve God on account of every thing in the natural that pointed him to the unreasonableness of believing that what God promised could come to pass.
Instead of staggering, he grew his faith. But how could he have grown his faith? He may have considered the faithfulness of God; the antecedents of God known to him, and came to a reasonable conclusion that it was reasonable to trust that God could bypass the obstacles of old age in him and Sarah and make good His promise to him. This way, Abraham grew his faith.
Toni
