In what ways can we trust God's promises despite seemingly impossible circumstances? Romans 4:17 in Focus “ ‘I have made you a father of many nations.’ He is our father in the presence of God in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not yet exist.” What We See in This Single Sentence • God’s promise: “I have made you a father of many nations.” • God’s power: He gives life to the dead. • God’s creativity: He calls into being what does not yet exist. Five Reasons We Can Trust God’s Promises When They Look Impossible 1. God’s Character Is Unchanging • “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind.” (Numbers 23:19) • What He says in Genesis 17:5, He still means in Romans 4:17, and He still means for us today. 2. He Has Resurrection Power • Romans 4:17 highlights a God “who gives life to the dead.” • That same power raised Jesus: “He was delivered over to death for our trespasses and was raised to life for our justification.” (Romans 4:25) • If death itself can’t block His promise, nothing you face can, either. 3. He Creates Out of Nothing • “He calls into being what does not yet exist.” (Romans 4:17) • Genesis 1:3 shows Him speaking light into darkness. • Luke 1:37 agrees: “For nothing will be impossible with God.” • When resources, answers, or solutions seem absent, He can simply create them. 4. He Has a Proven Track Record • Abraham waited decades, yet “being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised.” (Romans 4:21) • Hebrews 11 recounts generations who “obtained promises.” (Hebrews 11:33) • Past faithfulness fuels present confidence. 5. His Word Accomplishes What It Declares • “So is My word that goes out from My mouth: it will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please.” (Isaiah 55:11) • Hebrews 10:23 calls us to “hold resolutely to the hope we confess, for He who promised is faithful.” • Scripture’s reliability guarantees the outcome, even when timing or methods surprise us. Living This Out Today • Measure circumstances by God’s nature, not God by circumstances. • Rehearse His past faithfulness—both biblical and personal stories. • Speak His promises aloud; they are living words that create faith. • Refuse deadlines of unbelief; Abraham waited, yet God was on time. • Anchor hope in the resurrection: if God conquered the grave, He can conquer your impossible. |
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