Day Thirty-Nine
“Fully Assured”
And being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.
Romans 4:21
We have spent the last few days looking at the life of an ordinary man who received an extraordinary promise and lived with the full assurance that God was able to bring it to pass. It would be easy for us to put all of our attention on Abraham, but all of the attention should be focused on God. God gave Abraham the promise to begin with. He singled Abraham out for a destiny by His own sovereign will. Abraham did not do anything to receive God’s promise. God sustained Abraham’s faith during the trials and tests. God reminded Abraham over and over again of His promise and renewed his hope day by day. God heard. God answered. God gets the glory.
I want to live my life with the full assurance that what God promises He is also able to deliver. What this verse means when it says that Abraham was “fully assured” is that Abraham fully believed that God would carry the promise of giving him a son to the end. Abraham knew that God would bless him with the desire of his heart in a little boy, even though he was old and his wife was old. But what was old age to Abraham when compared to the promise of God?
The word “promise” simply means the announcement that one is about to do or finish something. Remember, this was spoken to Abraham over two decades before it was fulfilled. In like manner, I know there are things God has announced to you that He is about to do or complete. Just because you and I may not see it right this moment does not lessen the fact that it will come to pass if God has so promised. What encouragement that brings me today!
Why? Because our God is able. He is able to deliver on His promises, unlike politicians who promise anything and everything to get elected and then start backpedaling the moment they are elected to office. If God has announced that He is going to do it, He is able and willing to do what He says, and He says what He means to do.
Knowing this, why do we entertain doubts that He is going to fail us? I challenge you today to search the scriptures. Search them methodically and carefully and please make note of any person in the Bible you can discover whom God failed or did not keep His promise to. If God was faithful in the past, then I challenge you to read history and discover a person or group of persons whom God let down and did not do what He said He would do. Among those living today, can you find one true believer who will say God broke His promise to me? He always does what He announces He is going to do.
If you can find such a person, that would invalidate the entire Word of God. 1 Thessalonians 5:24 says that God is faithful. He is trustworthy. He is dependable and reliable. If at any point in history God failed someone, it cannot be said that He is one hundred percent faithful and reliable.
I need to be reminded of this truth from time to time. I need to be reminded that God will always come through according to His will and in His time. Abraham waited around twenty-five years for his miracle, but Isaac came. Maybe you still find yourself waiting on God to do and complete the thing He has promised. He is able, but are we fully assured? That will make all the difference between waiting and hoping or living frantic and with anxiety.
Steps to Trust and Obey:
What is it that you are fully assured that God is going to do on your behalf?
What convinces you that God is able and that He is willing to do what you are asking?
What is it that God has promised by announcing what He is going to do for you?
What is the Lord speaking to you and what is your response to Him today?
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