Focus on the Promise and not the Problem

No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God.

Romans 4:20

Abraham was 75 years old when God made the promise that he would be the father of a multitude of nations. For twenty-five years, he continued to believe in the promise of God even though his physical body was withering away every single day.

How did Abraham continue to believe God when he knew how old he felt? Abraham didn’t waver in the promise of God because he kept his focus on the promise and not the problem. It is problematic for an elderly couple to have a baby except for the promise of God.

Just like Abraham, we have the choice to focus on the promises of God or to focus on the problems of our lives. Abraham didn’t deny his problem—he just didn’t focus on it. And we also shouldn’t deny that there are problems in our lives, but we continue to point the way to the cross. We continue to press forward in our faith knowing that God will keep His promises to us.

Our problems will be with us until the day of our death. This sinful world will never run out of problems. Yet even problems will have an end, but the promises of God will continue throughout eternity. As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we know that the promise of eternal life will happen even before we die. We have the indwelling power and presence of the Holy Spirit to stir up joy in our hearts at the promise of one day being with Jesus.

Focusing on the promise and not the problem is a discipline of our minds. We will be tempted to focus on the problems and all the ways that things can go wrong. Yet focusing on the problem will tear down our faith and cause us to doubt God’s power. When we refuse to waver in God’s promises, we will experience the joy of knowing that He keeps His promises.