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Friday 9 September 2011

COUNT GOD FAITHFUL

By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.” (Hebrews 11:11, NKJV)
God's plans and purposes, His promises and instructions as revealed in the Scriptures are clear expressions of His paternal love and care for all His creation. His will is pre-eminent but never forced on humanity whom He has endowed with free-will and freedom to chose. Rather God asks us to test His word and see that He is trustworthy. God is all-powerful, yet if it were not for His integrity and faithfulness, His word would be meaningless and powerless to impact lives and inspire change world over.

To trust God, to obey and honour Him in word and deed, and hope in His promises we must be able to say unequivocally: “I count God faithful”. We believe in God on the grounds that He is worthy to be trusted. Faith cannot be coerced or genuinely expressed on any other grounds than that God is who He says He is and does exactly what He says He will do. It was on this ground that Sarah received the promise of God.

Sarah and her husband Abraham walked with God many years before Isaac was conceived. And in those many years they had first-hand experience of His faithful dealings with people. They saw Him repeatedly do what He said He will do. They followed God and obeyed Him willingly!

God had promised the couple a son about twenty-five years earlier, and now He finally gives them a specific time frame for the fulfilment of that promise (Gen 18:10). They have to make a rational decision whether or not to raise their hopes up this late in their lives and start to make preparations for a baby now that they are already very old (Gen 18:11). Indeed, Sarah’s first reaction was to laugh at the suggestion that she could be a mother at her age (Gen 18:12-14). But, glory to God, as she reflected further on that suggestion – getting beyond the facts and pondering more on the integrity of God who made her the promise, the thought didn't seem so unreasonable.

Ultimately, the main question they had to grapple with and resolve before moving on, therefore, was not whether they were young enough or too old to have a biological child of their own, as has always been the desire of their heart, rather it was whether they can judge God faithful or not. If God is faithful then age or any other unfavourable factor will not matter at all because nothing is too hard for God to do!  

When God gives you a promise, it covers everything that will ensure the complete success of the manifestation of His will in the situation. His faithfulness in respect of His specific promise to Sarah and Abraham implies that He will also take care of everything that needs to be in place before conception took place, during the pregnancy, and after the baby was born. It means that Sarah did not have to worry about how God was going to do it; she just had to believe to receive the grace.

In the text heading this discourse we learn that Sarah “received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age”. She was able to receive that strength which made the impossible possible by exercising faith. But her faith was not vacuous, it was based on a reasonable and clear expression of confidence in God who gave the promise and who has shown Himself to be faithful: “she judged Him faithful who had promised.”

Christian, only by counting God faithful, can you hope to persevere in obedience and walk by faith even when all natural evidences are clearly pointing in different direction. Do you judge God faithful? Have you reviewed God’s dealings with people on the basis of the testimony of Scripture and history? Do you affirm God’s faithfulness or do you still doubt?

If He promised it, He will perfect it. Having faith in God does not ignore the facts. Faith considers the facts but counts God faithful who has promised in spite of the facts. It is a recognition and acceptance that "facts", no matter how contrary or adverse, are changeable and cannot stand in the way of what God has purposed to do, when He is set to do it.

 Don’t be deceived, God cannot lie. God is implicitly trustworthy, and that’s a reflection of His unchanging divine nature. Count Him faithful and believe to receive just as Sarah, in her most unlikely situation, believed and received…!

Praise God!

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