Ever get frustrated with yourself?  Ha!  Of course!  Every one of us has beat ourselves up for messing up.  It may be big things that were immoral, or destructive.  Or it may be something small, but important we forgot to do.  Just this morning I realized I hadn’t checked in on someone I love who is going thru hard times.  I had gotten busy with my own stuff and hadn’t remembered to reach out.  But instead of wasting time being mad at myself, as in ‘What kind of relative am I to forget her?’ I reminded myself that God is full of grace toward me.  Then I immediately contacted my loved one.  I know God brings people and things to mind, so I don’t want to squelch that by putting it off.  If I really can’t do it right then, at the very least, I write it down in my calendar and assign a time to do it.  God wants me to get back on course, not self-flagellate.  He wants me to trust him to make good on his promises.  His promise is to forgive me.  His promise is to be close to me.  I believe that he counts me as good, not because I always do good, but because I believe his promises to me.  I’m not working for his approval, I already have it.

“For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”
. . . people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.  David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it:
“Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sins are put out of sight.
Yes, what joy for those
    whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.” “ Paul quoting Genesis 15:6 and Psalm 32:1-2  in Romans 4:3-8

When I let God’s kind disposition toward me anchor my thinking, I have confidence and peace. I trust that he does what he promised.  He forgives me, not because I deserve it, but because I believe that God forgives sinners.  I rest in his trustworthy, generous, and loving character.

God values faith.  We must believe him even when his promises don’t make sense.  Why should God willingly forgive us when we don’t deserve it? Or want to be close to us?  Abraham is our role model.  God promised Abraham many descendants.  Doesn’t sound like a promise that would be hard to believe, does it?  But Abraham and his wife had never been able to have children and when he received this promise they were past childbearing age.  Furthermore, almost ten years passed after God made the promise of giving Abraham offspring and still the child didn’t come.  Yet Scripture declares that Abraham didn’t waver in his faith.  He kept believing God would indeed make good on his promise until the day he held his promised son in his arms.  Abraham’s trust pleased God.  

“Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing . . . Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb.  Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God.  He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous.  And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.”  Romans 4:17,19,20-26

Now is faith unrelated to action?  Of course not!  What we do shows that we have faith.  I want to do the right thing because I believe God notices.  Abraham is also our example of faith in action.  After patiently waiting so long for the promised son, and receiving him, God tested him again.  He told Abraham to do an unthinkable thing, to kill his own son as a sacrifice to God.  This, of course, was against everything Abraham knew about God.  Never had God asked for human sacrifice.  But Abraham was completely obedient immediately.  He believed that God would still do what he had promised, that is, to give him many descendants through this son.  Abraham figured that if Isaac had to die, God would bring him back to life so that God’s promises could be fulfilled.  Although Abraham had never heard of anyone coming back from the dead, he believed God had the power to bring the dead back to life.  At the last second, God stopped Abraham and provided an animal to sacrifice instead of his dearly loved son.  

 “It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac,  even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.” Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead.”  Hebrews 11:17-19

“This is what the Lord says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that  I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies.  And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.”  Genesis 22:16-18

No matter what is going on around me or in me, I can lean into my trustworthy God who has made promises to me.  He has good intentions for me and he has the power to accomplish them.  I trust in a loving Promise Keeper.  And I obey him.