In the New Testament, we discover Paul using Abraham as an example of the hope that can become ours when our trust comes to rest in the faithfulness of the Lord.

In Romans 4:18-20 he tells of Abraham ...who against (in violation of) hope believed (was persuaded to place his confidence) in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, *So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead (he did not fix his attention on his own body and its inability to father a child), when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb: he staggered not (he did not hesitate or doubt) at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God…  

The promise, or Covenant God had made with Abraham held the impossibility of fulfillment. It is recorded in *Genesis 15:5-6—And He(the Lord God) brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and He said unto him, So shall thy Seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness. Abraham became the first man to believe the Lord and, thus, became “the father of the faithful.” The Seed in which he believed was, in its fulfillment, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The man who taught us to believe and to hope became the one through whose lineage our Savior came. As the end of the age is drawing on, we are called upon again to believe and to hope. The impossibility that faced Abraham was no greater than that which we face. When all hope vanishes and faith seems to be a vain thing, there will be a company of people who remain fixed in their hope with a steadfast faith. It is these who will inherit the Kingdom with the Lord Jesus.

Let us commit our hope and our faith to the Lord. It is He Who gives us our faith and from whom hope is born in us by His Spirit. Thus, it is a faith and a hope that have been tried in the fires of the ages that will be at work in us. They will carry us through the greatest tribulation to arrive in triumph at the Day of the Lord.

DEAR LORD, my faith is too weak to carry me through this trial that even now is upon our family. All I can do is yield it all up to You. I am now ready to watch and see what You will do to bring us all through the darkness that is closing in around us. Please put it within the hearts of these I name before You to believe You and to allow hope to spring up in them.

The Obedience that Faith Called Forth—Hebrews 11:8-11