Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - June/74

Contributor - Henry Van Essen

Title - Meditation

Topic - Meditation

"He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised." Romans 4: 19-21

FAITH

We touch here upon the heart of believing: are we confident that God the Father is able to do what He has promised? Abraham does not close his eyes to the reality around him - and yet does he believe God, does he take his stand on God's promise. To believe is more than being convinced that God exists, or that He does things, or that He rules. To believe is to build on God's promises, while your eyes see the very opposite around you! And therefore one who believes God honours Him - for he who builds on the promises of God in spite of the opposite around him, confesses the greatness of God! "The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nought; He frustrates the plans of the peoples" - Ps. 33 : 10. He honours God by confessing: our God is King - the reality around us does not have the last word!

Completely opposite to this is the conviction that this reality does have the last word, and that "religion" can help you somewhat to get through it all, but that faith does not change anything when all is said and done. That would mean that mankind would have the final say in this life - the continued existence of earth and people would then depend on us; while death would have the last word as far as each of us personally would be concerned. This puts on man the responsibility to solve all problems; one who reasons like that says in effect, There is no God!

The choice is clear cut: to build on the promises of God while your eyes see the very opposite around you, or, to build on what you observe with your five senses, and on the conclusions which you draw from these observations.

Abraham did not doubt through unbelief, but he grew strong in his faith. Here we are taught where the power of faith is to be found: in the promises of God, which overpower people. The power of faith is not in man himself, so that he would have to urge himself on to believe "more"; the power of faith is in holding on to the promises of God, standing on, building on these promises. And that does not mean that you close your eyes to all the circumstances around you; that would not be faith, that would mean that you would build your own little world, while forgetting the real world out there. To believe means building on the peace-promises of God precisely in the midst of bombs raining down, on the promise of eternal life precisely in the midst of death; to believe means building on the coming of God's Kingdom just when our whole society is slipping faster and faster into heathenism; to believe means to build on the cornerstone, rejected by the builders, as the solid rock of our salvation.

To believe means therefore: to live continually in the time of advent, to live and to die in expectation.

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