Romans 4:18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and became the father of many nations.
It doesn’t matter how hopeless the situation becomes in the world, you are never without hope when you put your hope in the God of hope.
Abraham put his hope in one thing – the God of hope. It says against all hope, in hope he believed. This is the hope that God had promised to him, that he would be the father of many nations.
Hope is an important key when it comes to faith.
You are not putting your faith in the hope of this world, you are putting your faith in the hope of what God has promised you in His Word. If He promises something to you then put your hope in that!
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for…
Faith and hope are related. Hope is what God has promised you through His Word. Faith is believing it! In hope, Abraham believed!
Many Christians feel their faith is like a rollercoaster. Up one day, down the next. That’s because they are putting their hope in the wrong thing or place (something attached to this world). As soon as you put your hope back where it belongs, in what God had promised you in His Word, that hope will become an anchor to your faith.
Abraham was anchored in faith because he didn’t waver in this hope from God.
He went through many trials in Canaan and Egypt from severe droughts, rescuing his nephew from aggressive nations and even kings who had their eyes on his wife. Yet the greatest trial he faced was that of delay. His promised child took 25 years to come to pass.
Delay can often be your greatest enemy and this is what the devil will try to deceive you with during times of delay:
He will try to turn your times of delay into times of questioning and doubting God – to look at the world and see how blessed and how successful they are. He wants you to take your eyes off the true source of hope, Jesus, and onto the things of this world.
Or, like Job, the devil will start condemning you for things associated with your past and make you think these are reasons for delays.
Both of these are tactics of the devil and once you know that, you can cast these devilish thoughts away.
Abraham slipped up once and went to the flesh, resulting in the birth of Ishmael through his Egyptian maidservant. But Ishmael was not the promise of God. The promise was Isaac.
And what God wants you to see in every delay is that the promise (hope) He has for you is going to be born out of faith and not something you think you can do.
When you hold onto hope and continue to believe God, this is what positions you for God to move exceedingly and abundantly in your life (Ephesians 3:20).