Romans 4:17–18 - Resurrecting Hope

The Bible tells the story of an elderly couple, Abraham and Sarah. They were way too old to have children, but God promised that they would have a son, and that son would be named Isaac. Abraham believed what God had promised.

Abraham's faith may seem irrational. But his faith wasn't a total leap in the dark. Faith doesn't go against reason, it goes beyond reason. Having seen God at work before in his life, Abraham had learned to trust in God, described as the One...

"who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist. In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken," [that his descendants would be as countless as the stars in heaven.]
(Romans 4:17-19, New American Standard Bible, 1995. See Genesis 15:5)

This hope was later tested when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. As they approached the place of sacrifice, Abraham assured Isaac that "God would provide a lamb." (Genesis 22:8)

So how could he have "hope against hope?" Hope when everything seemed hopeless? Because he wasn't resting in the strength of his own faith. Abraham is called "The Friend of God." (James 2:23) It was his Friend who kept giving him hope.

The universe didn't exploded into existence on it's own. As a friend of ours put it,
"For there to be a Big Bang, there had to be a Big Banger."
The universe didn't just "happen," God made something out of nothing. (Hebrews 11:3)
If God can make something out of nothing, if He can create life, then he can resurrect the dead:
Dead people, dead dreams, dead hopes.

Father, not only did you create the world, not only did you create us as people, but You also created faith, hope and love in our hearts. When those things die, we ask you to resurrect them again. Rebuild our faith, restore our hope, renew our love. By the resurrection of Jesus we pray, Amen.