Unwavering Faith

“Yet, he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why ‘it was credited to him as righteousness.’” Romans 4:20-22

The use of the word “righteousness” in the Bible implies justice and conformance to established standards. Justice means doing the right thing; and conformance to established standards (in the Bible) refers to following the ways of God.

This passage refers to Abraham, who was promised by God to be the father of all nations with descendents too great to count. That doesn’t sound too far fetched on the surface but the kicker was that he was 99 years old and his wife Sarai was barren. The Bible claims that Abraham was “unwavering and fully persuaded.” His actions demonstrated the highest level of faith you can adopt – the faith of an answered promise without seeing any signs of fulfillment.

My grandmother walked with this level of faith in her spiritual pilgrimage on earth. God promised her that she would write a book that told the story of her life through her daily journaling. She documented her daily walk in journals for over 60 years knowing it was the framework required for God to fulfill His promise. Without laying the framework she would not have made room in her life for God to fulfill the promise. So she began living her life towards that end just as Abraham did. This promise was given to her in 1942 and the book was published in 2008. Our grandmother received her long awaited promise, both earthly and spiritually, at 100 years old. The earthly promise was the publication of her book and the spiritual promise was Romans 4:17. "...the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were." Grandmother could have believed at 100 that the promise was not going to be fulfilled and the dream was dead but that was not in her belief system. Now that is “unwavering and being fully persuaded!”

Every child of God is a “promise recipient” and should live our lives creating the framework in which He can fulfill that promise. Through getting in His word daily and praying to Him for revelation and spiritual guidance He will reveal personal truths and goals for our lives.

Being “credited as righteousness” involves doing the right thing and following the ways of God. It involves hearing a promise from God, seeing the uncertainty of its possibilities but never wavering from its fulfillment.

If the Bible were to be rewritten I wonder how many of our names would appear as being “credited as righteousness?”