Week 10 - Tuesday

The Doubt that Believes

In hope against hope he believed, in order that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, "So shall your descendants be." And without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb; yet with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, (Romans 4:18-20a)

Abraham's original name was Abram which means exalted father. It is believed that Abram was about 60 years old when God first called him out of Ur. God told Abraham to move to Canaan and promised that He would make his descendants into a great nation. (Gen. 12:1-4). Abram first traveled only as far as Haran, where he stayed until his father's death. When Abram finally left Haran for Caanan, he was 75 years old and still childless (Acts 7:2-5). Several years later God repeated the promise and the Bible says that Abram believed God. When Abram was 99 years old, God once again repeated the promise to Abram and changed his name to Abraham which means father of multitudes. By this time it would have been easy for Abraham to have lost all hope that God's promise would ever come true. He had waited almost 40 years and was now a very old man. His wife Sarah was way past the age of normal child bearing. Still, Abraham did not become weak in faith, even when hoping seemed hopeless. Abraham still believed God's promises because he believed that God could do the impossible.

Paul says that Abraham did not waver in unbelief, even though his situation seemed hopeless. However if one looks at some of the events in Abraham's life, it might seem as though that were not true. Once Abraham openly admitted to God that he was having some doubts. Later, at the suggestion of his wife, he tried to bring about God's promise through his own efforts by having a son with Sarah's maid. As strong as his faith was, Abraham still had times when he doubted, times when he had trouble understanding how God was going to keep His promises. But that's only normal. Everyone has times when they struggle with their faith. Struggling faith is not unbelief though. Unbelief is the worst state that a person can be in. Unbelief in the absence of faith. Even though they have times when they doubt, those with faith believe God; inspite of their doubts. There are many times when I wonder if what the Bible says is really true. Sometimes it just doesn't seem possible. After all it's a pretty incredible story. But when I stop and think about it, nothing else makes any sense. If there is not a God, why is everything here? Where did everything come from? Who created it all? Evolution doesn't make sense because that means everything came from nothing. Not only did everything come from nothing but nothing formed itself into everything we see today. This supposedly took place through billions of seemingly impossible events that happened over millions of years. It makes a lot more sense to believe in God. Then, if there is a God, He must have a reason for it all. He does and the reasons are all in the Bible. Nothing else in the world gives any better answers to the meaning of life than the Bible does.

In the gospel of Mark, a man came to Jesus and asked Him if He could heal his son. Jesus said to the man, "all things are possible to him who believes". The man then replied to Jesus, "I do believe; help my unbelief" (Mark 9:24). I think we all need help with our unbelief. Do you believe in Jesus, yet have times when you doubt? Don't let those doubts cause your faith to waver. Pray to Jesus and ask Him to strengthen your faith. Then trust His promises, in spite of your doubts, and follow Him with all your heart. Maybe you don't believe in Christ yet, but you want to. Tell Jesus that you are sorry for your sins. Ask Him to help you to believe in Him. If that is what's truly in your heart, Jesus will hear your prayer and He will give you the faith you need to believe.

Readings for today: Gen. 15:2-6, 16:1-4; 17:1-5; Luke 17:5; Matt. 7:7-8; Prov. 2:3-5