Trusting God and His word
Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous. And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God. Romans 4:20-25
The Apostle Paul declared from the text that belief in God means trusting Him in what He says. This is important because there are those that claim they believe in God yet their belief will not prompt them to believe in the claims of Jesus in His word. Paul cited Abraham’s faith that was credited in him by God and provided the reason why God declared him righteous as well as those who will place their faith in Christ. Abraham’s faith grew stronger that all the more he learned how to trust God. In so many occasions, Paul declared his faith in God. But his faith is not just something he claimed he had, yet will not show the presence of it in his life when trials come. In one instance, when Paul and other prisoners will be brought to Rome for trial, the ship they were on got into the storm. He was imprisoned because of his faith and continual preaching of the word of God. The storm was raging that the ship’s officials, crews, and prisoners are losing hope that they will survive the storm, but not Paul. “The terrible storm raged for many days, blotting out the sun and the stars, until at last all hope was gone” (Acts 27:20). Paul stood up and declared his belief in God and will not allow fear overcame him. “So take courage! For I believe God. It will be just as he said” (Acts 27:25). God does not use audible voice today to communicate like He did in the time of Abraham and Paul. But He speaks far more comprehensively through His written word, the Bible. All the more that humanity has less excuse for unbelief than they might have had. There are those in these times that claim that the word of God has no place in modern times. This is why there is a disregard and neglect of the word of God and His teachings. “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right” (2 Timothy 3:16). Followers of Christ should believe what God said in His word or else you are making Him a liar. “All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son” (1 John 5:10). When you live your life based on His will found in the truth of His word, you know you are in the truth. “For the word of the Lord holds true, and we can trust everything he does” (Psalm 33:4).
Blessings.