Romans 4:18

I will never forget the statement which that great man of faith George Mueller once made to a gentleman who had asked him the best way to have strong faith: “The only way to know strong faith is to endure great trials. I have learned my faith by standing firm through severe testings.”

How true this is! You must trust when all else fails.

It is a little thing to trust God as far as we can see Him, as far as the way lies open before us; but to trust Him when we are hedged in on every side and can see no way to escape, this is good and acceptable with God. This is the faith of Abraham, our father.

“Under . . . hopeless circumstances he hopefully believed” (Romans 4:18 WNT).

When God is going to do something wonderful, He begins with a difficulty. If it is going to be something very wonderful, He begins with an impossibility. CHARLES INWOOD

O God of the impossible! Since all things are to Thee But soil in which Omnipotence Can work almightily, Each trial may to us become The means that will display How o’er what seems impossible Our God hath perfect sway!

Abraham’s faith seemed to be in complete agreement with the power and constant faithfulness of Jehovah. By looking at the outer circumstances in which he was placed, he had no reason to expect the fulfillment of God’s promise. Yet he believed the Word of the Lord and looked forward to the time when his descendants would be “as numerous as the stars in the sky” (Genesis 26:4).

Dear soul, you have not been given only one promise, like Abraham, but a thousand promises. And you have been given the example of many faithful believers as a pattern for your life. Therefore it is simply to your advantage to rely with confidence upon the Word of God. And although He may delay in sending His help, and the evil you are experiencing may seem to become worse and worse, do not be weak. Instead, be strong and rejoice, for God usually steps forward to save us when we least expect it, fulfilling His most glorious promises in a miraculous way.

When my little son was about ten years old, his grandmother promised him a stamp collecting album for Christmas. Christmas came and went with no stamp album and no word from Grandma. The matter, however, was not mentioned, until his friends came to see his Christmas presents. I was astonished, after he had listed all the gifts he had received, to hear him add, “And a stamp album from my grandmother.”

After hearing this several times, I called my son to me and said, “But, George, you didn’t get a stamp album from Grandma. Why did you say you did?”