Romans 4:21
…being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He promised.
There are a lot of things that are better full than empty. Some that come to mind are buffet bars, gas tanks, checking accounts at the end of the month, and the coffee cup I’m drinking from as I write this. This great verse in Romans mentions another: our confidence in God.
Basically Paul has just done the 3 verse recap of how Abraham believed that God would give him a child even though he and his wife were as old as the hills that their son would eventually play on, and he wraps that up by saying that Abraham never wavered in his faith because he was fully persuaded. That’s a strong phrase, isn’t it? If you and I were to pull out paper and pen and start listing all the things that we are fully persuaded about (and by fully, it means no room for anything other than persuasion), I’m thinking our lists might be quite short. They may even be blank.
So the question is how does an old man look at his old wife, realize that they are as good as dead (verse 19 says that!), and still stand fully persuaded? It’s all about what persuades us, and in Abraham’s case, he was convinced that God had the power to do what He had promised. I love the wording there. It doesn’t say that he was convinced that God would do it, but that God could do it. When we’re believing God for the impossible, it’s easy to lose hope if we’re focusing on the doing instead of the Doer. Abraham understood that and his life became one of total confidence in his God’s power to do what He said He’d do. The fulfillment of the promise was up to God, and if it took another 100 years for them to have a son, then they knew God had the power to keep them both alive until then.
Bottom line is this: when we see the fulfillment of God’s promises as “when” and not “if,” there is suddenly very little, if any, room for doubt. We won’t pray “God, if you do this I’ll be happy” anymore. Our prayers will become prayers of the fully persuaded and we will find ourselves looking to a God of power and praying “God, when you do what You promised, You’ll be glorified as the faithful God I know You are.”
Being full of it makes all the difference.
Really challenging, great insight!!
This is exactly what I have been struggling with. It is not a doubt of the power or ability of God, but about the timing. Your words are truly helpful to me today.
Blessings,
Dane