A God-story

If Abraham, by what he did for God, got God to approve him, he could certainly have taken credit for it. But the story we're given is a God-story, not an Abraham-story. What we read in Scripture is, "Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own." Romans 4:2-3 The Message

As I read that portion of scripture, 'Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was a turning point', I am reminded of the times when I have felt lost or that life was 'out-of-control'. In those times rather than run, I have chosen to stay and enter into what God was doing for me, albeit sometimes after a battle in my mind. I made the choice to trust God, putting my hope in Him and His promises.

Abraham didn't focus on his own impotence and say, "It's hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child." Nor did he survey Sarah's decades of infertility and give up. He didn't tiptoe around God's promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said. Romans 4:19-21 The message.

I love how this scripture says Abraham 'plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God.' For me, that is akin to immersing myself in God's presence and devouring His word, letting His love and truth completely engulf me. Without fail, every time I have 'plunged in', and there have been literally hundreds of times, I have come up strong, ready for God.  Those times have been a turning point in my life. They have been the times when I have gained more revelation of what it is to trust God. They are the times when the next chapter of God's story for my life has been written.

Questions for today, who is writing the story of your life now, is it you, or is it God? Who are you trusting to set things right, yourself or God? What are you plunging into to find answers and get strength? Is it God and His word, or is it something else? If your answers to these questions aren't God and you would like Him to be the answer, take time to talk to God now. Tell Him you want to be set right with Him, today, through what Jesus has done for you. Click on this link to find out more about deciding to follow Jesus. Let your story be God's story.

That's why it is said, "Abraham was declared fit before God by trusting God to set him right." But it's not just Abraham; it's also us! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when conditions were equally hopeless. The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God. Romans 4:22-25 The Message