I want to challenge all of us to start this new year and face the future with strong faith and hope. Last year presented many challenges and changes in many of our lives. Some of those changes were anticipated and many of them caught us by surprise and even took our breath away. It is easy to allow the events of our past to set the tone and direction of our future. Abraham, the father of faith faced circumstances that were untenable and extremely challenging.
Romans 4:18-21 NIV 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.”
Romans 4:19 NIV 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.
Romans 4:20-21 NIV 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.
Against all hope, in hope Abraham believed.
Without weakening in his faith, he faced the facts and the future being fully persuaded that God would do what He promised. Our goal is to remain strong in faith and hope regardless of what we face.
We can have strong hope and faith because the anchor of our soul is sure and steadfast.
Hebrews 6:19–20 NET We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and steadfast, which reaches inside behind the curtain, 20where Jesus our forerunner entered on our behalf…
Our faith and hope is built on Jesus Christ and His position.
Hope finds strength in the fact that Jesus entered into the presence of the Father on our behalf.
This gives us hope on two levels.
First, we have hope that Jesus Christ our Savior has provided access for us.
Our Forerunner, Jesus Christ has gone before us to provide a place for us.
John 14:3 NIV84 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
We have hope and confidence that the Lord Himself will descend from heaven and call us out of this world. This gives us hope that this world and the events of this life are not permanent.
Hebrews 6:19 NASB95 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast.
This is our hope.
The second part of this faith and hope references every facet of life.
God told Abraham that he would be blessed. Abraham started walking by faith and in hope believed God even when everything around him looked impossible. Circumstances in our lives cannot prohibit God from doing what He said He would do. God is not hindered or weakened by human limitations. He is able to do everything that He promises.
- The Lord Almighty did this when Israel came to the walls of Jericho and gave Joshua certain victory.
- The woman with a little jar of oil and a handful of flour found hope when there was nothing but God to sustain them throughout the famine.
- Although Bartimaeus had been blind all of his life, he was filled with a strong hope and faith in the Lord.
There is no limit to what God will do when we surrender to His touch. Right now God is stirring up faith and hope in your life. You can trust Him with your life, your circumstances and your future.
