How many of us read the
Word of God as though it is a book of suggestions, rather than the actual words
from God?  How many times do we read our
Bible with the idea that it was good for those who lived during the times it
was written, but it is not so for us today? 
How many times have we thought that the Bible really is only for a
select few, but certainly its promises are not for us to claim?  Today I would like you to consider something
that God wrote about Abraham.  “Who
against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations,
according to that which was spoke, ‘So shall thy seed be’” (Romans 4:18).

God made a promise to
Abraham that his descendants would be in number like the stars in the sky and
the sands on the shore.  In other words,
God promised Abraham that he would not be able to count how many children would
come from his lineage.  The problem came
as Abraham grew older and older without having children.  His faith was going to be tested.  I have found that God often does not allow me
to see the fruit of my faith immediately. 
Faith by its very definition requires believing what we have not
seen.  Abraham believed God, and God
counted that for righteousness to him. 

In this verse above, we get
to peek into the heart of Abraham.  We
realize that his faith had to stand against his own doubts.  The verse says that Abraham chose to believe
God even when his hope was weak.  He had
reached the age of 100 without seeing the reality of his faith.  I am sure that his human hope was fading, but
he chose to trust in God anyway.  His
hope was weak, but His faith in God bolstered him to continue to hope in spite
of what seemed to be impossible.

God’s plan for our lives
requires living by faith.  God will
purposely put us in positions that require faith to continue on.  Don’t give up on God because your own hope
fades.  Follow the example of Abraham who
“against hope believed in hope.” 
If you will trust God and hope in His plan, there will be a day that you
see it come to completion and your faith will become sight.  If you bale out early, and you trust your
feelings and emotions rather than the promise and hand of God on your life, you
will never see the result of God’s promise to you.  The greatest blessings of the Christian life
come from the times that “against hope” you will choose to “believe
in hope.”  Don’t quit early on the
plan of God for your life.  God has the
answer and provision for you lying just on the other side of your faith!