Abraham firmly believed God’s promise. Romans 4:18 (NLT) tells us how Abraham had ridiculous hope—“Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations.”
I recently read how Jewish tradition promotes that Sarah actually had no womb:
Sarai was barren, she had no child.
[Why the double phrasing?] To teach that she did not even have a place for offspring – i.e. a womb. (Rashi, citing Talmud – Yevamot 64a)
[This is an interpretation of Genesis 11:30.]
But even when there was no reason to hope — Sarah had been barren for decades and he was nearly 100 years old — Abraham kept believing that they would have a child. Their predicament made hope seem nonsensical, even laughable. But Abraham kept hoping.
This wasn’t the first time Abraham had experienced and maintained ridiculous hope. God told him to leave his extended family (very unusual in that culture) and go to a different land, promising him that he would be blessed and become great. Abraham made a decision to step out and find out. The promises came true as Abraham trusted God.
I think Abraham was an outstanding example of how to have ridiculous hope in the midst of infertility. He opened himself to hear from God. He trusted what God said. So much so, that he changed his name from Abram, which means “exalted father” , to Abraham, which means “father of many nations.” Imagine hearing other people call him father of multitudes when he and Sarah didn’t even have one child! Think of the ridicule he must have experienced. His ridiculous hope required having faith in what God had promised, trusting that what God had promised would indeed come to pass. Repeatedly hearing that description of himself , through others calling his name, surely must have built Abraham’s faith (faith comes by hearing–Romans 10:17).
There was another factor that increased Abraham’s hope for a child and faith in God’s promise. We learn in Romans 4:20 (YLT) that he “was strengthened in faith, having given glory to God.” The act of praising God, acknowledging His power and honoring Him by the words that Abraham spoke, helped to build up his faith.
Abraham had ridiculous hope in God, viewing Him as the only One who could give him all that he desired.
What will it take for you to live each day having ridiculous hope?
I love this! I spoke about this at my church on Monday! So much encouragement in these verses!!!
Yes! Yes! Yes! So good! Thanks for sharing!
I am just so amazed by your hope. I that I was ok, but can now honestly say I am not. I left hope behind, I feel so disappointed in God, I`m screaming for answers but heaven is silent. I have no willpower left to seek the Lord. I even lost my “joy in the Lord”. Life has never been darker, and after hoping for 5 years, praying for 5 years, I just had enough. This is so faith shaking.
Elisabeth, I took time to ask the Lord how to respond to your comment and it took a couple of days to hear from Him. I’m so sorry that your faith has been shaken to its core. In reading Psalm 143 this morning, I couldn’t help but think of you and I sensed the Lord saying that this Psalm was to shape my response to you. David wrote this in the depths of his despair when he felt like giving in to the mental and emotional anguish caused by his enemies.
Infertility is definitely an enemy so here are paraphrased parts of David’s prayer in Psalm 143 that I hope will encourage you:
Elisabeth, don’t give up on God! He loves you and He IS faithful to fulfill His promises. When we lose focus of God’s very personal love for us as an individual, it’s easy for our spirit to feel overwhelmed and fall into despair. But when we decide to focus on His love, goodness, and faithfulness to do what He said, we experience a shift in our soul because we’ve allowed His light to shine into our circumstances. He wants to restore your joy because His joy is a source of strength for you. Will you allow him to do that?
It’s times like these that the encouragement of others helps immensely. Would you please consider joining the Facebook group I started for infertility? It’s called “A Seed of Hope Fertility Support Group.” I hope to see you there…