The Righteousness of God Comes Through Faith

Romans 4:13-25 

As I studied the end of the fourth chapter, I was so struck by the fact that this passage had such a direct correlation to many questions of faith that I have been having lately.  So many times, I think I try to put God in a box.  I feel like He must make sense, He must answer prayers, He must work the way I want Him to work in order to be the God that I have always believed in.  But maybe, just maybe, God doesn’t work that way.  He is just too great for that.   

There are several passages in this section that struck me.  I love chapter 4, verse 18:  “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed…”  I feel like there are lots of times like that in people’s lives.  And I guess the question is whether we choose to step out in faith and hope, and believe.  I have struggled with this a lot lately, as I have had several sets of friends go through difficult times.  If you pray to God, then you must choose to pray in hope.  You just must.  But it doesn’t always mean that God will answer as you would like for him to.  But as I read again through parts of Romans, I was so thankful for the fact that we have righteousness through our faith.  God can bless us through seemingly hopeless situations, if we just put our faith, trust, and hope in Him.  Several months ago, I had three friends lose babies within months of each other.  One of these friends began pouring out her emotions in a blog, and her honest thoughts have blessed me many times.  It is an amazing blog to read, and truly makes you think about your faith:  www.conorbootheandgirls.blogspot.com.   

A few weeks ago, we had “family church” at my house with some of my family, since they were in town for Christmas.  It was a really special time to me.  We began a discussion about why God chooses to answer some prayers and not others, why we pray, etc.  My dad, who is one of the wisest men I know spoke to these questions.  I guess I was expecting him to have a long, drawn-out answer for me that would make sense.  Instead he offered one word:  Hope.  He said that although this world does not make sense, we still choose to believe.  And through that belief and faith, we have hope.  I think Abraham experienced this.  Oh how I would love to have the faith and righteousness credited to Abraham.