Fully Convinced

I held my Bible as I sat with one of my girls on each side of me in bed. "Do you see a pattern?" I asked.

They looked at the passage and said, "What pattern?"

"Look at what I've circled and highlighted."

Almost in unison, they read, "'And God said...'" Pause. "'And it was so.'"

Fingers ran down the page, "'And God said,'" they read. "'And it was so.'"

Over and over, their little fingers stopped on each of my markings. "'And God said... And it was so.'"

"Do you see it?"

"I think so," Avery said.

"What do you think it means?"

"It's like God says something, and then it happens."

"Yes!" I said, with perhaps a bit too much enthusiasm. "Nothing is too difficult for our God. He speaks, and it is so! Just like He did in the beginning here in Genesis. Isn't that amazing?"

Both girls nodded.

"The book of Romans tells us that God calls into existence things that do not exist," I continued. "He creates out of nothing, simply by speaking it forth. All it takes is a word from God, and it is so."

My family and I have been on a long journey together, a journey we believe God set us on. We have been waiting four and a half years for God to say the word, for Him to bring us our child(ren) from Ethiopia, and at this point, it'll take a miracle. But in Isaiah 55:11, we read, "so shall My word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." God does what He says. He is just as active today as ever. His Word does not return void, but does what it is purposed to do.

What an incredible truth that is!!!

Like many of you, I have some things I believe God has promised to me. Some things that I cannot yet see. In the natural, these things do not look possible, but we press on in faith. Hebrews 11:1 says "faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." The rest of the chapter goes on to chronicalize the faith of those who have gone before us. The faith of Abel, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, and many more.

Romans 4:18-21 tells us that Abraham believed God's promise despite what he saw with his eyes. It says, " In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told... He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised."

This is faith––great faith. The kind of faith that I want. The kind of faith that tells us to believe despite what we see. Faith that tells us to trust despite what we're told. Faith in a loving all knowing, doting Father despite our temptation to doubt.

We serve a God who knows. A God who loves. A God who takes delight in every one of us. A Father who wants to give.

But we must believe.

We must believe in who God is and our position before Him. We must believe that He is in fact the God who calls all things into existence to the extent that we come before Him, praise His name, and whisper, "Only say a word..."

All it takes is a word. And it is so.

When God speaks, things happen.

That hope that seems dead will come alive the moment He speaks.

That promise will be fulfilled.

And we will give glory when, yet again, we see the impossible materialize before our eyes.