Romans 4:20
He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
An interesting statement is made about Abraham in the Scriptures that seems to be inaccurate, but when looking at what God was saying, it is very true as always. The Scriptures say that Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief. This is talking about Abraham’s faith in God that He would make of him a great nation. However, Abraham had no children, and how can you become a great nation without children? Somehow it seems God may have missed Abraham’s decision to have a child through Hagar. Certainly, this would seem that Abraham staggered.
The key to understanding this verse is what comes after the statement that Abraham staggered not. The next phrase says, but was strong in faith. Abraham had unbelief, but he also had faith. The difference is that Abraham did not let unbelief become the story of his life, but he chose to act on faith, and it was the action of his faith that made him the father of a great nation. Abraham staggered through unbelief and could have stopped in his moment of weakness, but he did not! Though he had a moment of unbelief, he still moved on from that moment and acted by faith until God fulfilled His promise.
Those who are strong in faith did not let their unbelief trip them up to try something different, but they continued to do what their faith in God told them to do. You will always find unbelief whenever you find faith. It is which one you act on that determines the story of your life. You can act in unbelief, and the story of your life will be fear. You can act in faith, and the story of your life will be the miraculous. Let me illustrate with some men in the Scriptures.
Gideon was one of those men who exhibited unbelief and fear, but he acted in faith. Gideon could have allowed the story of his life to be like his countrymen who lived in fear and unbelief, but instead of letting fear and unbelief dictate what he did, he acted on his faith and God used him mightily and miraculously. The story of Gideon’s life is not about his unbelief but his faith that God could use him and three hundred men to defeat a great army.
The three Hebrew men who stood against Nebuchadnezzar are another illustration. They had a moment of unbelief when they told Nebuchadnezzar that God would deliver them. Their unbelief is seen when they said, but if not. However, they did not let the but if not be the narrative of their lives. The narrative of their lives was in the statement, we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image.… They did not trip up with the unbelief in their heart, but they moved forward by faith and trusted God, and the story of their lives is that the heathen’s fire had no power over their bodies.
Have you been tripped up with unbelief? Has your unbelief in what God will do caused you to stop? You can stagger at unbelief, but you don't have to stop at unbelief. When you stagger at unbelief, quickly look back to faith, get up, and keep moving toward your faith vision. What you do when you are tripped up by unbelief determines the story of your life. Those whom God used greatly had times of unbelief, but they did not let unbelief trip them up; instead, they looked to their faith and kept moving, and God used them greatly. God will use you greatly if you keep going forward by faith despite unbelief’s attempt to trip you up.
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