Faith, Trust, and Hope

Welcome! I’m guest posting for Gloria Dei LutheranChurch today. As a congregation, we are reading through The Story, a chronological abridged version of the Bible. The Story uses Scripture from the NIV and reads as a seamless story.

Periodically, I will be a guest contributor during this sermon series. Today I’m there talking about Abraham and how through faith, trust, and hope he waited for God’s will in his life. And maybe even more difficult, Abraham waited on God’s timing...

It seems God’s timing rarely matches the time frame we would prefer. We’re an instant gratification society. From fast food to drive-thru everything, we don’t like to wait. Does anyone besides me get impatient if the internet is a few seconds too slow?

So, reading about Abraham and Sarah reminds me that the patience to wait on God’s timing comes through faith, trust, and hope. But better still is God’s grace for them as they struggled with impatience and took matters into their own hands.

Abraham (known as Abram at that time) was 75 years old when God told him to leave his country, his people, and father’s household, and go to a new land, where God would bless him and make him into a great nation.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. Hebrews 11:8 NIV

Faith, as defined in The Story, is complete trust. True faith is much deeper than mere intellectual agreement with certain facts—it affects the desires of one’s heart. (The Story pg. 14)

In Abraham’s lower story, he didn’t know where God was taking him. He didn’t know how his obedience fit into God’s upper story, but he didn’t need to know. Abraham trusted God and wanted to be faithful, so he packed up and went.

Trust is the assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something. (NLT Study Bible, Tyndale)

Trusting God is knowing that what He says will happen. We might not know when or how, but we can be sure that God will always keep His promises.

Abraham trusted God, but the waiting and longing for a child had to be awful. What did Abraham think every time he saw the pain in Sarah’s eyes? How did Sarah respond when surrounded by the children of family and friends, knowing that a family was not in her future?

To read more of my post, please join me at the Gloria Dei blog. And if you would, leave a comment. I’d love to know you stopped by!

In Christ,

Laura

Linking up today with Walk with Him Wednesdays, WholeHearted Home, Life in Bloom, Thought Provoking Thursday, and Faith Filled Friday.