Journey to the Cross

Pause

You are here. God is here.

God meets you right where you are – in a place God has been before.

God calls you into a place of promise, a place of blessing, a place of grace.

Stay here awhile. Stay here with God.

Listen

When it was beyond hope, he had faith in the hope that he would become the father of many nations, in keeping with the promise God spoke to him: That’s how many descendants you will have. Without losing faith, Abraham, who was nearly 100 years old, took into account his own body, which was as good as dead, and Sarah’s womb, which was dead. He didn’t hesitate with a lack of faith in God’s promise, but he grew strong in faith and gave glory to God. He was fully convinced that God was able to do what he promised. Therefore, it was credited to him as righteousness.

But the scripture that says it was credited to him wasn’t written only for Abraham’s sake. It was written also for our sake, because it is going to be credited to us too. It will be credited to those of us who have faith in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was handed over because of our mistakes, and he was raised to meet the requirements of righteousness for us.

Romans 4:18-25

Think

Years ago, my youth group was doing trust falls, led by some camp counselors. First, they had us pay close attention to how best to arrange others to catch the person falling backwards, insisting that part of trust was knowing who was there for you. Then, once everyone was arranged, they blindfolded the faller, saying, “now it’s not just a trust fall; it’s a faith fall.”

When it was beyond hope, we’re told, Abraham had faith. He didn’t lose faith, in fact he grew in faith even when things didn’t seem to be going his way. There are times in our life when we feel hopeless, situations in our world that seem beyond hope. Even at those times, we know that we can have faith in God — that God has arranged others in our lives so that they will catch us, support us, be there for us.

Peter Hanson

Pray

God, you promise to arrange others in my life, to catch me when I fall. Help me to trust even when I can’t always see them. Amen.

Go

Walk with God, trusting in God’s promises.

Be convinced that God will do what God has promised to do.

Live in that trust, in that conviction, in that faith.

Walk with God and be trustworthy.