“Abraham was first named “father” and then became a father because he dared to trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing. When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do. And so he was made the father of a multitude of peoples.” Romans 4:17b-18 The Message
In an age where we believe science can explain so much, where banks secure and guarantee our money, and we spend hours mapping our futures, it is baffling to imagine a 100-year-old man believing God would make him the father of a “multitude of peoples.”
What does faith look like in the modern world? Abraham is credited with having a faith so great he believed God could “make something out of nothing”. This line from Romans reminds us to look for God’s handiwork. Faith is accessible, not in its vastness, but in its quiet, repetitive glory. I am reminded that seeds become new plants every year. Straps of cloth, repeated in a pattern, can be transformed into a quilt. Hurt and loss, over time and with the love of God and friends, can become deep new understandings. God’s love is shown not in the absence of hurt and pain, but in its transformation.
What are some reminders you see of God’s transformative work in everyday life? Are there times in your life when you have “believed anyway”?
God, breathe life into our hopelessness, renew our dreams, grant us faith in You again. AMEN
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