Have you ever been in one of those situations where you needed help with something and someone gives you some advice you’re not sure will bring the resolution you seek? However, because you trust the person you do what they say. To your surprise, you get the results promised. 

It reminds me of something I recently read in Romans 4:18 (NLT): “Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping – believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him ‘That’s how many descendants you will have!’” 

As I read this passage, I questioned the validity. After all, Abraham slept with his wife’s servant Hagar when he and Sarah couldn’t conceive a baby. How is that being hopeful? Later, in chapter 17 of Genesis, when God again said he would be the father of many nations, Abraham laughed to himself in disbelief and questioned how he, at the age of 100, could have a son. And how could his wife at 99 years of age have a baby? How was that demonstrating hope when there was no reason to hope?

If you’ve read the story, you know Abraham and Sarah do have a son just as God said. Abraham goes on to be the father of many nations. Abraham’s belief that it would happen as God said is credited to him as righteousness. (See Genesis 15 and Romans 4).

Looking at these passages again and noticing my resistance to their truth, I returned to study them. I discovered some things that encourage me to hold on to hope when all seems lost.

1.    Belief equals action. If I truly believe something, I won’t just give it intellectual assent, but I’ll act and do based on what I believe to be true.

2.  Belief does not equal not having doubts or questions. It means honestly sharing those doubts with Him and then acting on what God says in spite of my doubts or fears. 

3.    I do what He says not because I understand but because I trust Him. I trust Him because He is good and faithful.

I am reminded of the story of the disciples in Luke 5. They fished all night without catching a thing. Jesus, a carpenter, tells them to go out deeper and let down their nets. I wonder if the disciples were a little indigent.  After all, they were the fishermen.  However, Peter responded, “Master, we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so I’ll let the nets down again” (Luke 5:5 NLT). 

Believing in God and hoping against hope does not mean I don’t doubt or even question God at times. It means despite my doubts and fears, I keep looking to and trusting in Him, doing what He says even if it doesn’t make sense. In the end, like Abraham and the disciples, when we do what He says, we will see things we could never imagine or expect because we hoped against hope.