We Are Fully Persuaded

Abraham didn’t stagger in his faith. Rather, he was “fully convinced that what he had promised he was also able to perform” (Romans 4:21, NKJV). He recognized that God is able to work with nothing. Indeed, our Lord created the world from a void. With just a single word, he creates. In the same way, he can create miracles for us out of nothing.

When all else fails, when your every plan and scheme has been exhausted, that is the time for you to cast everything on God. It is the time for you to give up all confidence in finding deliverance anywhere else. When you are ready to believe you will see God not as a potter who needs clay, but as a creator who works from nothing. Out of nothing that is of this world or its materials, God will work in ways you could never have conceived.

How serious is the Lord about our believing him in the face of impossibility?

We find the answer to this question in the story of Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist. Zacharias was visited by an angel who told him that his wife, Elisabeth, would give birth to a special child. Zacharias, well advanced in years, refused to believe it. God’s promise alone was not enough for him. Zacharias answered the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years” (Luke 1:18). Simply put, he considered the impossibilities. He was saying, “This isn’t possible. You’ve got to prove to me how it will happen.” It didn’t sound reasonable.

Zacharias’ doubts displeased the Lord. The angel told him, “But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time” (Luke 1:20).

The message is clear. God expects us to believe him when he speaks. Likewise, Peter wrote, “Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to him in doing good, as to a faithful creator” (1 Peter 4:19).