How to obtain the promises by faith

For some, faith is an abstract subject; for others, it's a challenge they struggle to overcome every day. How do we receive God's promises by faith? Is it really that complicated? God's Word provides simple and helpful guidance.

As I meditated on the book of Romans, I was struck by the commentary on Abraham's faith. I reflected on it and jotted down the following thoughts on faith in God and receiving the promise.

How not to waver in faith

As the Bible says in the fourth chapter of Romans,

Abraham did not doubt or waver in unbelief concerning God's promise, but was strong and strengthened by faith, giving glory to God. Being fully convinced that God had the power to do what He had said. ‘'‘

Just before that, the text informs us that his body was practically dead, in other words, no hope, because he was 100 years old. And he saw that Sarah's body was dead. Again, no hope, also because of her age. And also because even when she was a young woman, she was not fertile.

But despite what he saw, what he believed did not change. We must take into account what we see, and then cancel out what we see with what we believe.  When we talk about walking by faith, we are not saying that we will not see adverse circumstances, we are not pretending that they do not exist.We don't act as if there is nothing before us that negates what God has said about us. Sometimes you see nothing but that all around you. All the material evidence points to the opposite of what you expect from God.

Every situation, circumstance, relationship, opportunity, or lack thereof naturally causes you to believe that what you have your heart set on cannot happen. Some of these situations are extremely powerful and very real. We're not talking about favorable circumstances or even slightly negative ones. We're talking about situations and circumstances that are diametrically opposed to what you expect.

A doubly impossible situation

These situations are such that they could seem like a death sentence for your expectations. In fact, when the Bible says that Abraham's body was practically dead, it meant that what he expected was a definite impossibility. It wasn't a matter of opinion. There was no other way to look at the situation. There was no way it was going to happen. But the impossibility wasn't just on his side; there was another impossibility on his wife's side as well. Put the two together, and all you can say is, "Forget it, it'll never happen."

We have to think about it because we face such situations in our daily lives. And we tend to forget that it's actually supposed to be this way. You're supposed to believe God even if everything around you screams 'impossible, impossible, impossible.' People will tell you, 'Be realistic, come on, be wise. How can you imagine, how can you expect...'

Circumstances speak

And if people don't speak, circumstances themselves speak. You find yourself in a situation where the equation for success is virtually absent; where what it will take to get where you want to go doesn't exist; where things have happened that now make it impossible to achieve your desires.

And these situations speak very loudly, they keep coming back to your mind. And sometimes your thought is, "Before, I could have made this work." And the devil will say to you, "You missed the opportunity. You know, before, you had this and that and so you could have achieved this goal, but now you don't have them anymore." Or, "You had these people with you, they're not here anymore and without them, you won't be able to do any of this."

“So maybe when you were younger you had more energy, and you had these wonderful people in your life or in your business or in your ministry, then you could have achieved that goal, but now it's just too late.” And these thoughts keep going back and forth inside of you.

 I see people all the time who are completely defeated because they have agreed to bury their expectations in the grave of regret and time. Sometimes they will say things like, "Yes, when I was younger, maybe," or some will say, "Yes, but you know, now, with the current situation..."; because they think that something in nature must favor them before God's promise can be fulfilled.

But Abraham's experience was the opposite. When he was in a "favorable situation" because he could still have a child, he went to Hagar and had a child. You would think God would say, "Oh, very good, you did well," but instead, God made it known that no, He did not want that child in His plan. That was not the child that was going to be there. The one that was going to be there was the one He was going to bring out of Abraham's impossible circumstances.

So, I deduce that when you have exhausted your possibilities, when the situation seems most unrealizable or rather the situation makes your expectations most unrealizable; when it seems that the best people have left you and your glory days are over, that is when you are best positioned to achieve what you want to achieve because that is when the power of God will bring into existence what you are waiting for.

Faith in God alone.

This is not to say that things couldn't have been done before. What you need to understand is that these negative circumstances have no bearing on what God will do. And now, when you find yourself faced with this type of impossibility, it is the perfect opportunity to release your faith in God and God alone; because now you can no longer trust Peter, Janet, and Joseph. Likewise, you can no longer rely on your abilities, your beauty, or any other circumstances that could have been favorable in your life.

Now that everything is gone, you shouldn't tell yourself that your opportunity is gone, and that you can no longer achieve your goals. Perhaps that would be the case if your faith was in those so-called favorable things. But if your faith is in God, it's time to say, "Definitely, I'm ideally positioned to receive a miracle. I'm ideally positioned for victory, because now there's no one I can count on except God."

And that's what happened to Abraham. He had no one to rely on except God. He couldn't rely on the child he had in disobedience, because God had said no. Likewise, he couldn't rely on his body or his wife's body. They were both totally useless. He had to trust the God who had the power to do what He had promised. And you must do the same. That's the real key. The key to fulfilling your expectations, the key to manifesting God's victory in your life, is not favorable circumstances, nor the presence of willing people, it's the powerof God.

He is able to do, to create

Have confidence in God's ability to do what He has planned to do, no matter your circumstances, because that He is able to create whatever is necessaryHe was able to create a baby in the womb of a woman too old to bear a child. He was able to make it so that through an old man like Abraham a woman could become pregnant. So, no matter how miserable your circumstances may seem, God is able to make them new.

It doesn't matter if someone who seemed to be carrying your miracle has left you, God is able to work it without them.  So when you trust in His power, you know that His power is unaffected by any natural circumstance, that He can create any natural circumstance necessary to accomplish His purpose. What you have or don't have is irrelevant. Who you have or don't have is irrelevant. He can bring the right people. Whether you have the money or not is irrelevant. He can provide the money. Whatever it takes for you to accomplish His purpose, He will create.

He is able to create whatever is needed.

Faith in His power

So when you believe in His power, you don't look at circumstances, you don't say, "I don't have this, and I don't have that"; or, "At my age..." He can renew your youth. This is exciting because it means we are living a life of, as I like to say, infinite possibilities. The things that would normally stand in our way are unable to block us because God is powerful to work without them or create them if He should need them. Constantly meditating on the power of God will make us stronger in faith.

We are told that Abraham became strong, and strengthened by faith, gave glory to God. He gave glory to God before seeing what he expected because he believed it would happen. He was strong and He became strong. We too can become strong. We don't have to be bowed down by the impossibilities we face. We too can become strong and be empowered by faith because we know what Abraham knew; that God has the power to do what He said. And we will not waver in unbelief. We can continue to give Him glory even before we see it because we have been empowered by faith.

Be fully convinced

He was fully convinced. It wasn't, "Well, I'm not sure." His conviction was absolute. And that absolute conviction is available to each of us, that absolute conviction about God's power. We will receive it as we meditate long and deeply on God's power. When you are absolutely convinced of His power, and you know what He has promised, you will not doubt or waver.

Instead, you will be at peace, delighting in God while you wait for things to change and happen. Some will ask, “What’s wrong with him? What’s wrong with her? Doesn’t he/she understand there are problems?” And you will think, “God has the power and He will use it for me.” This is so empowering. God has the power to do what He has promised. Find out what He has promised, hold fast to it, trust in His power, and give Him glory. This is how you will obtain His promises by faith.