“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.” Romans 4:20-21NLT 

 We have been discussing how Abraham, through faith was able to transcend his present circumstances and trust in the promise of God. That’s what the faith and hope of Abraham are all about. (see v20-21) At this point we should remember that Abraham laughed at the prospect of Sarah and himself having a child – given their ages, then he offered to help God out and Ishmael was the result. (Gen17:17-18). His attempt at works was a failure that we are still reaping the consequences of. 

At that point God jumped back into the picture and said: “Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him” (v19, RSV). 

We need to see Abraham’s faith as dynamic and growing. At first, he did the same thing most of us would have done – he laughed! After all, from a human perspective, the suggestion about Abraham and Sarah was quite laughable. I am personally not yet quite 100 years old and my wife is not quite 90, but I think I can understand why Abraham might have laughed. There are, you know, such things as the facts of life. 

Abraham was like us. Faith apparently didn’t come any easier for him than it does for the rest of humanity. It was not automatic for him. He knew the problems and realities all of us face. 

Yet his faith grew, as we see by the fact that he circumcised all the males of his household as a sign of the covenant before Isaac was conceived (v22-27). Years passed between the giving of the promise in Genesis 15:5 and its fulfilment in Genesis 21:2. During those long years, Abraham must have struggled with doubt. But his faith grew, and God was able to strengthen him (Rom.4:20, 21). When Paul tells us that Abraham was “fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised,” he is talking about his mature faith, not his immediate reaction. The unbelief was momentary; the faith was constant.