Romans 4:18-22 - Daily Devotion - 29 June 2026

St Barnabas Anglican Church Fairfield & Bossley Park

18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 Without weakening in his faith, he acknowledged the decrepitness of his body (since he was about a hundred years old) and the lifelessness of Sarah’s womb. 20 Yet he did not waver through disbelief in the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”

REFLECTIONS

Written by Sarah Armstrong

Back in Genesis, God promised Abraham a child – not any child, but a child through whom God would bring blessing to people from all nations. The problem was, Abraham and his wife Sarah were both a long way past childbearing age.

In today’s passage, Paul reflects on the fact that Abraham knew his body was “as good as dead”, and he knew that Sarah’s womb was “also dead” (v. 19, NIV). In other words, using human logic, the promise of being the father of many nations was physically impossible. But instead of sticking with human logic and saying, “It can’t happen, so it won’t happen,” Abraham steadfastly continued to believe that with God all things are possible – and he was “fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised” (v 21).

Often, we experience things happening around or to us that leave us feeling out of control or that all our efforts are futile. We feel like getting through or over it may be impossible. We should cling to the fact that God, in his power and perfect timing, gave life to Abraham and Sarah’s dead reproductive systems, so that Isaac was born, and his line ultimately brought Jesus the Saviour. Faith is trusting God’s impossible-sounding promise to give life to the dead.

One of my girls reminded me yesterday that she has been learning that even when we look and feel alone, we are not alone, since Jesus died so we can walk with God always and know that he will never leave us alone – he gave us his Holy Spirit. I hope all of us, when things are tough, are like Abraham and are strengthened in faith and give all glory to God, trusting that he is indeed a powerful God who will always do what he has promised, even when it seems impossible.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sarah is our Parish Administrator.