Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 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.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

All throughout the Bible we have people who trusted God in mighty ways. Many of these people also had great falls (or fails) in their faith. Abraham trusted God for a son from a barren wife in old age — this was a great faith. And yet he let his wife convince him to sleep with Hagar, their servant, to insure they would have an offspring. His faith persevered, but at a certain time, in his actions, he fell. David was a “friend of God” and had an impossible faith as a small shepherd boy to kill the giant Goliath. But he also fell when he took Bathsheba into his bed and had her husband killed. Elijah had faith to go up against hundreds of the prophets of Baal in a showdown by fire and he and his God won convincingly. But he also failed to keep his faith in God when Jezebel the queen threatened his life. Instead he ran away and asked God to take his life. The Apostle Peter was the first to recognize Jesus Christ as God’s Son, the promised Messiah. But he also denied/disowned him three times when he was being charged in the courts before his crucifixion. He went on to lead the early church.
Against all hope, all of these “pillars of the faith” believed in God and His plans, but at times they fell or failed. So what separates them? The separator is that the repented and sought after God (and later Jesus Christ) more deliberately after their fail/fall than before. They kept seeking and though the failed him, they also received his grace and continued to be on mission for God and/or Jesus Christ. They continued to be strong spiritual warriors in God’s kingdom because they had, and regained, a faith in God that by human standards was … against all hope. So how do I develop and maintain this amazingly strong type of faith? We learn some key components about faith from the below verses: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews‬ ‭11:1, 6‬) “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.” (James‬ ‭5:16-18‬) Here are three components of a Faith Beyond All Hope: 1) It is pure – the passage in James says we must confess our sins to each other and be healed. A strong faith comes out of a pure and repentant heart. 2) We must learn to pray and communicate with God.

This can seem difficult, communicating with the mostly invisible God of the universe. But it is required of those with an unshakable faith. We must know what is on his heart. 3) We must have a future vision of our purpose and our rewards in following God. We must be sure of what we hope for even when we do not see it. We must trust that God rewards those who earnestly seek him, even when this seems impossible. We must trust this and always run back to God when we fall or fail.

Lord, thank you for Abraham and his faith beyond all hope. Thank you for the other imperfect leaders of faith in your Word. Teach me to be counted among them — BUILD IN ME an unmovable, unshakable, faith beyond all hope!