“The Lord appeared to Abraham at the Oaks of Mamre and told him, “I will certainly return to you at this time next year; and behold, your wife Sarah will have a son” (Gen. 18:10).
But there was one problem, Abraham and his wife Sarah could not conceive. They were well past the age of childbearing. In the natural, there was no hope of bearing a child. But Abraham, through faith, knew that God was not limited or defined by space, time, or even age!
Despite his current circumstances and ignoring what he saw, Abraham did not become weak in faith. He had an unshakable resolve that what he was hoping and believing for (because God said so) – would manifest! In spite of the opposing evidence and seemingly no possibilities in the natural, Abraham held on to the promise of God for a miracle son.
Breaking News. Spirit-Filled Stories. Subscribe to Charisma on YouTube now!
“Without becoming weak in faith, he (Abraham) 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, giving glory to God” (Rom. 4: 19-20).
Even when his visible world contradicted what he was hoping for – Abraham’s faith remained stable. The impossibility of the situation essentially strengthened his faith. Abraham believed in something bigger and more reliable than his own circumstance. It’s like when the going gets tough; the tough get going. Abraham’s faith essentially rose to the next level. Abraham was fully persuaded by the authority of God’s Word and had a confident expectation that what God said would happen, would happen! And as we know, Abraham was rewarded for his faith with the birth of his son Isaac (Gen. 21: 1-7).
What if Abraham’s faith had been determined by what he saw instead of what was possible through God?
Sometimes what we are believing and hoping for seems distant and even impossible, but faith will always believe God. “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). We express our faith by clinging to what God’s Word tells us. We agree with what we intuit the Holy Spirit is speaking to our heart. We treat what the Lord says to us with a confident expectation. We persevere and maintain that what we are trusting God for will surely come to pass, even if we cannot see it now.
It is faith that opens our hearts and truly brings us into a relationship with God, our Creator. It is the very essence of our salvation. But many of us are a bit “foggy” as to what faith actually is. Have you ever stopped to consider what “faith” really means? What does faith look like, or how do we know that we have it? Many of us realize that faith has to do with believing, but how does faith save us?
Consider…
If we do not trust somebody, we typically choose to close that person off from our life. We become reluctant to depend or rely upon them. But when we believe in someone, we can then open our hearts to receive what that person wants to give us. We can put our confidence in that person because we know they have our best interest at heart. This applies to our relationship with the Father. Put simply, faith brings us into the intimacy of relationship. When we, through faith, completely believe and trust God – we are able to receive His grace.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8).
Beloved, our own goodness cannot save us. We only can be saved by faith in God’s goodness and love. Faith in the fact that God will do what He said He’s going to do; thus, we can rely on Him. This will result in us knowing that Father always has the best intentions for His children. Freedom comes when put all our trust in Him, holding back nothing, looking to Him for everything.
“Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it” (Ps. 37:4-5).
Think of it this way, faith is the assured expectancy that what we are hoping for will manifest. Faith opens the door for Father to accomplish for us what He wants to do – because we are now able to receive it.
Join Charisma Magazine Online to follow everything the Holy Spirit is doing around the world!
Beloved, you may be believing for something to happen in your life that is according to God’s Word, but you are still waiting. I want to encourage you to just keep believing and not lose heart! Think about Abraham. Although his faith was tested, he never wavered. So do not allow the visible world to weaken your faith. Always remember, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1, KJV). Hang on, never give up, and you will be rewarded! Keep hoping, stay steadfast in your faith, and your day will come!
“For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees” (Rom. 8:24)?
“But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that person ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord” (James 1: 6, 7).
Rabbi Schneider hosts the impactful television program, Discovering The Jewish Jesus, which is available in more than 100 million homes in the United States and nearly 200 nations worldwide. In 2021, he began broadcasting on radio and now airs across America. Rabbi Schneider imparts revelation of Jesus’ Jewish heritage and His fulfillment of Messianic prophecy. Questions of how the Old and New Testaments tie together, and how Yeshua completes the unfolding plan of the Almighty Yahweh, are answered with exceptional clarity. His new book, Decoding the Torah, is available on amazon.com now. Learn more at his website, www.discoveringthejewishjesus.com/about-2/rabbi-schneider/
