Heb 11:11-12 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. (12) Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.
The story of Sara’s faith concerning the conception, and birth, of Isaac is found in Genesis 17:15-17:22, 18:1-15 & 21:1-7.
In Genesis 18:12-15 we are told, “(12) Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?.... (15) Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.”
Here, we have a clear progression in Sara’s faith:
- Sara’s original reaction to God’s promise that she would bear a son in her old age (90 yrs old) was one of unbelieving laughter.
- After being reminded of the Lord’s power and ability, we are told her laughter turned to fear as she realized she doubted Almighty God.
- In our Hebrews text, we are told that Sara “through faith” conceived and bore Isaac.
How often do we experience the same type of development of faith in our life?
- The Lord places us in a situation in which we can only be victorious through His intervention. We begin in unbelief, seeing our circumstances as overwhelming and impossible.
- But when we are confronted with our Lord’s greatness, we fearfully regret our doubting attitude, clearly seeing our sin of unbelief.
- Then slowly, gradually, by His grace alone, His presence in the midst of our trial begins to be seen and our faith begins to strengthen. We begin to see our impossible obstacle as another hurdle we can leap through the ability given to us by our Lord.
The next time we are faced with a river of trials we, seemingly, cannot cross; follow the example of the father of the deaf and dumb child and cry out to the Lord…. “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”
And then take heart, remember, the words of the Lord to Peter... “Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not:”
and then to Paul… “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”
Our Lord is using this time in our lives to strengthen us and build up our struggling faith!
May the Lord bless each one of us as we “Think On These Things”.
SIH Homepage: http://www.settledinheaven.org
SIH Text Blog: http://settledinheaven.wordpress.com/all-about-salvation/
SIH Video Blog: http://youtube.com/settledinheaven/
SIH Email: settledinheaven@gmail.com
"Then slowly, gradually, by His grace alone, His presence in the midst of our trial begins to be seen and our faith begins to strengthen." Excellent. I now know what this is. Great post.
ReplyDeleteThe Lord's intervention during our weakest moments is one of the greatest blessings a Christian can receive. Lord bless you Naphtali.
ReplyDeleteOur Lord is using this time in our lives to strengthen us and build up our struggling faith! your comment here is so comforting in our times of trials. thank u for sharing
ReplyDeleteHey Rob! Excellent post! I have been thinking a lot about this same subject for the last few days. I typed a post on it several days ago, then last night at church, a gentleman was talking to me about his "journey" of developing his relationship with God, and I explained to him that doubt was the opposite of faith and that if you have doubt about what the Lord can and will do in your life that it can cause interference.
ReplyDeleteI know that from my own experiences because I have a big problem myself. I don't understand why, because I know how powerful God is, I have seen Him at work healing diseases, I have seen Him restore people financially, I have seen Him deliver (and have had deliverance) of alcohol, tobacco, and even drugs. (I was delivered from alcohol and tobacco) so I know He can and will do these things, yet when it comes to little things,such as healing my back or something even more simple or "everyday", I will say (to myself) God, I need your help, please fix this, BUT, then I mess up because I say, "but just in case, I'm going to make an appointment with the doctor". "Just in case, I'm going to make some phone calls".
Needless to say, that phrase "just in case" SCREAMS OUT" my doubts. I really think my problems are too big for God to fix. I believe that is a common problem among most people. In our heart we know God can do anything. He is the Almighty Powerful God, yet our "brain" kicks in and we start "overthinking" and cause ourselves to start doubting. Well, another "book" written! LOL!
God Bless,
PJ
Lord bless you, dear friend. I am so thankful the Lord has given me the privilege to be used of Him to encourage your heart. I pray for you daily.
ReplyDeletePJ, It is a common experience for us all. We all have weak faith at times. I just thank the Lord He uses the trials we face to gradually build up our faith. That's what is so wonderful about the Lord.... He teaches us a lesson, we forget that lesson, and then He graciously teaches us the lesson again. What a great Lrod we serve. He knows we will never be perfect this side of heaven but He consistantly works with us as we face the trials of this life. Lord bless you. PJ. Thnaks again for great comments.
ReplyDeleteWhat incredible joy to find oneself leaping over previously unattempted hurdles with the lifting of the Holy Spirit sent from God!
ReplyDeleteThank you Rob for subscribing to my site. I've gone through your site a little and I love it! I look forward to learning much from you. Many blessings to you and your ministry! ~~~Michele
ReplyDeleteAMEN, seeing the Lord work in our lives is a great blessing. Lord bless you.
ReplyDeleteVery glad to be a subscriber, Michele. I was blessed by your site as well. Glad SIH has been a blessing to you. The Lord is certainly good to us! Lord bless you and your ministry. Keep looking to Him for grace and ability and He will use you in great ways.
ReplyDeleteI have experienced the three steps in the development of faith as you outlined here - not only in times of trial, but also in times of calling.
ReplyDeleteI think the same steps are involved when God calls us to a task. We see it as an impossibility. Then we remember His greatness, and regret our sinful doubts. As He begins to use us, we marvel at how the impossible becomes possible and we rejoice to be used by Him to bring about His purpose.
I never cease to marvel at the way God deals with us. He allows us to doubt, to stop us from trusting in self, then shows His enabling and proves He is able, willing and desirous to overcome all.
What an amazing God!
I've never given that a thought, but I do believe you are correct. I guess, in a sense, a calling is a trial of our faith. Are we willing ot follow His call to a ministry or will our faith be lacking? Thank you so much for adding this new perspective to the posting. Lord bless.
ReplyDeleteI'm late here but blessed this way to get to read all the comments too. :) So encouraged along with everyone else by this, and think that He loves to put us in those situations that seem impossible and are for us on our own, so He can show Himself great in our lives. I am in a place that just shouldn't work on any level, yet here I am still. You've reminded me of a great truth for me to thank Him for tonight! God bless you, Rob!
ReplyDeleteDebbie,
ReplyDeleteSo thankful the Lord used this posting to be a blessing to you. He is such a wonderful Lord, giving us faith and His presence when faced with many difficult situations in our life. Lord bless you.