Bethany Bullet - July 12, 2011

He wanted a little boy so badly, a son of his very own! Yet, it seemed impossible. Hopeless! He was just too old. As if that were not enough, there is no woman in his life who’s of childbearing age either. One night, he looks up at the sky, sees the countless stars, and makes a wish. "When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who are; your dreams come true. If your heart is in your dreams, no request is too extreme; when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true." And sure enough the next day his dream had come true.

Youtube link:
“When You Wish Upon a Star”

Unable to open link, copy/paste to your browser:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2Us3PfJfkY

Of course, I’m talking about Geppetto from Pinnochio. After he wished upon the star, the magic of the Blue Fairy brought to life the wooden puppet Geppetto had carved. A son of his own; and by the end of the movie the wooden toy had become a real boy…and they lived happily ever after.

So what’s the difference between a Fairy Tale and a Faith’s Trail?

That is what is before our eyes in the account of another old man, who with his old woman was also unable to have a child. Yet by the end of their story, they too are living happily with a real boy from their own body. Through their story we learn what faith is!

Let’s have a childless man from history (not from Disney) show us real faith. He too was old, nearly a hundred. His wife Sarah was ten years younger, but never able to have children at any time. Both of their bodies were as good as dead. How impossible, how hopeless to have a child!

Twenty-five years earlier the Lord had promised that he would be a great nation and all peoples would be blessed through him. (Genesis 12:2-3) But how could that happen without a son?

A few years later, the Lord took him outside at night and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars if indeed you can count them…So shall your offspring be." -Genesis 15:5 NIV.

Now to our text from Romans: "Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed…just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’’’ -Romans 4:18 NIV.

FAITH is that which…
Fiercely
And
Immovably
Trusts
Him

Faith is that which RESTS on the promise of God. Faith needs a promise to rest on; an unconditional promise. Why did Abraham believe that the impossible would happen? …Because God had made the promise.

Verses 18-19, Abraham considered not his body or hers, nor the temptations of the evil one (I’m sure there were a few, i.e.):

• “It’s been a quarter of a century, a boy should have graduated from college already and you’ve still to purchase diapers and paint a room blue.”


• “If God were gonna deliver Sarah, he would have delivered by now. He aint, give up.”

But Abraham considered neither his circumstances nor the situation at hand; he trusted the word and promise of the LORD!

That same faith can be ours. God’s promises will not fail you. When your dreams disappear and your desires are dashed – go to God’s promises. Because…

• Neither dashed dreams or growing disappointments,


• Neither what you lack nor what you’ve lost,


• Neither the accusations of the evil one,


• The taunts of thoughtless ones,


• Nor the aches in your own heart

Shall separate you from His love!

Consider neither your circumstances nor situations:

• Are you feeling alone?


• Has everyone abandoned you, rejected you, and forsaken you?

Go to the promises of God for He has not!
“Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you; I will be with you always to the end of the age.”

• Is guilt weighing you down?


• Friends, family, and community refusing to forgive, let alone forget?


• Being reminded of what has happened constantly?


• Think it is always with you?

Go to the promises of God.
“I will cast your sins as far as east is from west.”

• Has the grave called or is it drawing near?


• Fearing the forever-ness of death?

Go to the promises of God.
“Those who believe in me even though they die yet shall they live”

FAITH in the face of circumstances and situations that say it is impossible; Fiercely And Immovably Trust Him who makes and keeps all His promises in Christ.

-Pastor Kevin Kritzer