We can wait on God when we are grounded in truth.
In the previous post we began looking at five things that enabled Abraham to wait on God in the dark, based on Romans 4:18–21:
“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” (Rom. 4:18–21, NIV)
In this post we examine points 2 and 3.
2. Abraham faced reality
Romans 4 says about Abraham that “without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.”
Abraham was able to wait because he faced the facts about his current reality. He was not living in false denial, but rather was living by the truth, which is the only place of strength. He knew that in the natural he and Sarah were too old to conceive a child, but he faced that fact in a way that did not weaken his faith. He faced the facts without letting them change his understanding of God.
He knew the rules of the natural world do not have the final say. He was “fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” God created the world, and he upholds the rules of the natural world and can override them at will. The sovereign God can recreate as easily as he can create.
This too is the truth and therefore the only place of strength. Without strength that comes from the complete truth, you cannot wait on the Lord as long as necessary.
3. Abraham believed God’s promise
Abraham could wait because “he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God.” Abraham’s faith rested specifically on God’s promise, not only on general truths about his nature. God’s Word has unique, spiritual power to create and sustain hope and faith. “Faith comes from hearing” (Rom. 10:17). God’s promise is not just an idea, a string of words, a natural tool of communication. Rather his promises have a spiritual nature. Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63). The Holy Spirit uses God’s words to create hope and faith. His promises feed faith as food feeds the body.
But for that to happen we must not quench the Spirit’s work by responding to God’s promise with unbelief. In that case we would “waver through unbelief” and find it even harder to wait for the Lord. Abraham did not allow thoughts of unbelief to linger in his mind. He rejected such thoughts when they came.
In the next post we look at the final two lessons from Abraham about how to wait on God in the dark.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)