Daily Manna · Day 273 · September 30
Fully Persuaded
“He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.”
God brings an old man outside, tells him to look up and count the stars if he can, and says that his children will be like that: "So shall thy seed be." Abraham is seventy-five when the promise first comes. He is eighty-six when Hagar gives birth to Ishmael, who is not the son God promised. He is ninety-nine when God speaks to him again, and Sarah still has no child.
Paul says Abraham "staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief." At first that can sound as if Paul forgot Genesis. Abraham fell on his face and laughed. Sarah laughed to herself in the tent. And in between came the whole sad story of Hagar. But Paul is talking about the promise itself, and Abraham never walked away from it. Paul does not hide the facts either. Abraham was "about an hundred years old," his body was "now dead" for having children, and so was Sarah's womb. Even so, he was "fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform." What persuaded him was the God who had promised, and not the numbers.
Then Paul puts two things side by side as if they belong together: Abraham "was strong in faith, giving glory to God." His strength showed itself in praise. He thanked the God who had spoken, even though he had nothing yet to show for it.
May you be strong the way he was strong: he had his questions, and he stayed with the promise. Your own numbers may look just as bad, but they do not have to be the last word in the room, because God's word is. The child did come, and the God who kept His word to Abraham is still able to do everything He has promised.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year two reading for day 273 is Within My House (Psalm 101:2).