Session 4

Lost Hope in God?

From Romans: A 16-Day Devotional

It’s the bottom of the ninth, your favorite team is losing by 2, and they’re down to their last strike. Are you still confident they’re going to win or do you start to lose hope? Most of us can remember a time when our faith in someone or something wavered because the odds were against them.

Time and again, it seemed that the odds were against Abraham. Abraham was 99 years old and married to a barren woman, but God promised Abraham he would be the father of nations. God gave him a son a year later. Then, God asked him to sacrifice that son.  

Trust God to keep His promises.

Abraham set out to obey, and God sent a ram to sacrifice instead. Abraham could have looked at his circumstances more than once and lost hope, wondering if God would keep His promise. But Romans 4:20-21 says, “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.”

Abraham’s faith wasn’t diminished because of his circumstances. The exact opposite was true. His faith got stronger! He completely trusted God to fulfill the promises He made. What a challenge for us when the odds are against us. Today, if you feel like you’re on the losing end in the bottom of the ninth, don’t lose hope! Trust God to keep His promises.

Reflect:

• How do tough circumstances affect your faith? Do you start to doubt or do you stand strong in the Lord?
• Is anything causing you to doubt God’s promises now?
• What’s one way the difficulties you face today could strengthen your faith instead of diminishing it?