Discovering Christianity through Abraham’s Faith
Romans 4:1-7
Jim Davis
Christianity must be
understood in the context of Scripture as a whole for
Christianity is borne out of those Scriptures.
Trying to understand Christianity by peering through
religious dogma or church doctrines or a few choice Bible
verses is confusing. It limits one’s ability to see the
bigger picture.
A study of the church often
leads many to the book of Acts. Why not? Acts covers
the first thirty-five years of the history immediately
following the death of Christ. But we must look beyond the
book of Acts to understand the actions of the apostles.
Studies of church history from our present time back through
the book of Acts give us a limited view of Christianity.
Throughout the book of Acts the apostles preached faith.
Faith existed long before believers were called Christians.
They preached the faith that existed long before Christians
began assembling in fellowships.
The book of Acts is about
faith in God. The faith the apostles preached
brought Christianity into focus through the history of God’s
people from the beginning of time. This faith cannot
be understood without knowledge of the entirety of
Scriptures from which faith was borne.
Acts 6:7
7
So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in
Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests
became obedient to the faith. NIV
Acts 11:22-24
22
News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem,
and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and
saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and
encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all
their hearts. 24 He was a good man, full of the Holy
Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were
brought to the Lord. NIV
Acts 14:21-22
21
They preached the good news in that city and won a large
number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium
and Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. NIV
Acts 14:26-28
26
From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had
been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now
completed. 27 On arriving there, they gathered the church
together and reported all that God had done through them and
how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
28 And they stayed there a long time with the disciples. NIV
Acts 15:8-9
9
He made no distinction between us and them, for he
purified their hearts by faith. NIV
Salvation cannot be truly
understood without knowledge of God’s work in the lives of
the faithful from a historical perspective. The
apostles preached the faith that existed long before the
book of Acts was written—long before the church as we know
her existed. It was the faith that existed long before the
first word of Scripture was written. It was that faith that
opened the door for the Gentile. Their hearts were purified
by that faith. It is that faith that was delivered to the
saints of old. It is that faith that saves today. It is the
faith that brings you to Christ who is the very center of
Christianity. It is that same faith that brought those first
Christians into the body of Christ.
Faith Existed Long Before Scripture
The root of Christian faith
preached by the apostles runs backward through the
gospels—through the writings of Moses and the prophets—it
penetrates the lives of those who lived prior to Moses and
the prophets. Those who lived before Scripture was
written give us an untouchable view of salvation by grace
through faith. They give us a close look at faith without a
written moral law. It was faith in the raw without a
prescribed systematic religion. It is where we get a
pristine foretaste of salvation by grace through faith.
The Hebrew writer traces
faith back to Abel (Hebrews 11). Paul traces the
faith he preached to Abraham who lived before Scripture.
Abraham’s life is a part of scripture. But he lived long
before Scripture was written. Paul points those who
possessed the Scriptures back to Abraham. He explains
salvation by grace through faith before Scripture was
written.
Romans 4:13-17
13
It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring
received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but
through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14 For if
those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the
promise is worthless, 15 because law brings wrath. And where
there is no law there is no transgression.
16
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by
grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring — not
only to those who are of the law but also to those who are
of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As
it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations."
He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed —
the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are
not as though they were. NIV
Salvation by grace was
demonstrated by Abraham’s faith in God.
Paul
writes, “Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that
it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's
offspring — not only to those who are of the law but also to
those who are of the faith of Abraham” (Romans 4:16). Paul doesn’t hesitate to remind us that Christians
are heirs according to the promise made to Abraham. Abraham
is a living demonstration of God’s saving grace through
faith.
Paul writes to Jews whose
faith is based upon the written word. He reminds
them that Abraham’s faith was not based upon law or
religious ritual. Somehow those who possess the scriptures
have no idea what it means to live by faith. As the apostles
preach faith throughout the first century world, they are
persecuted by those whose faith was supposedly based upon
Scripture. How could this be??? They were reading from the
same Scripture.
This should pose some heart
rending questions. Can we get lost in a theology
that seems to come straight out of Scripture without ever
discovering faith? Could we get lost in Bible study without
discovering faith? Could this happen to religious people of
our day? Could this happen to church going people? How much
of a leap would it take for us to go from being concerned
about how to do church to learning to live by faith?
The promise God made to
Abraham (Genesis 12:1-4) remains foundational to salvation
by faith through grace. It is foundational for a
solid faith in Christ. God gave us the whole Bible for a
purpose.
Genesis 12:1-5
12:1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your
people and your father's household and go to the land I will
show you.
2
"I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I
will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."
4
So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with
him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from
Haran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the
possessions they had accumulated and the people they had
acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan,
and they arrived there. NIV
The faith preached through
the book of Acts is based upon these promises. It is
solely through faith in Christ that we step out on the
promises made to Abraham. The history from Abraham to Christ
covers roughly 2000 years. It is this history that gives
Christianity its true meaning. It is no accident that the
New Testament writers pointed both Jews and Gentiles back to
Abraham, for it is there that God demonstrates a pristine
view of faith—the faith the apostles preached.
Abraham’s Faith was Based
upon the Grace of God
God doesn’t get in a hurry
when he seeks to bring us to himself. It was around
2000 years before a descendant of Abraham gave birth to
Christ. He was the one through whom all families of the
earth would be blessed. It seems like a long time, but God
was faithful to his promise. The faith of the faithful
during this time was based upon the promise God had made to
Abraham. Our faith today continues to be based upon those
same promises.
Galatians 3:26-29
26
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27
for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed
yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek,
slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in
Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are
Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. NIV
The prophets were always
pointing the Israelites back to Abraham—to what God did for
him. It was to be a reminder of what God would do
for them.
Isaiah 51:1-3
"Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness
and who seek the LORD:
Look to the rock from which you were cut
and to the quarry from which you were hewn;
2
look to Abraham, your father,
and to Sarah, who gave you birth.
When I called him he was but one,
and I blessed him and made him many.
3
The LORD will surely comfort Zion
and will look with compassion on all her ruins;
he
will make her deserts like Eden,
her wastelands like the garden of the LORD.
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the sound of singing. NIV
Strangely, the New Testament
writers continue to point us to Abraham—his faith continues
to allow believers to be born of the water and the Spirit
today. If Abraham were alive looking through history
at the promises God made to him, he would see Christians as
heirs to those promises. There is no way we
can understand faith in God’s promises until we come to
understand the faith of Abraham. To understand what God did
for Abraham and his descendants gives our faith depth.
Abraham is the father of the faithful. To become a
Christian—to become heirs with Abraham—we must have faith in
the promises made to father Abraham. Christians are heirs of
those promises God made to Abraham roughly 4,000 years ago.
Christ is the fulfillment of those promises. If we belong to
Christ we are Abraham’s seed.
God gives us a pristine view
of grace through faith before Scripture through the lives of
Abraham’s descendants. The first thing God did was
to bring Abraham to a point where he realized that it was
impossible for him to do anything to bring about what God
had promised. Abraham was like most of us. God promised to
bless. He made his plans to make God’s blessing real. He
simply asked God to bless his plan. It was unthinkable that
a man ninety-nine years old could beget a child in the womb
of his wife who was eighty-nine years old! Remember they
knew nothing about Viagra or hormone therapy—they did know
something about surrogate births. After all, from a
reproductive point of view, both of them were as good as
dead. But it wasn’t what God had in mind.
Romans 4:18-25
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the
father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So
shall your offspring be." 19 Without weakening
in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as
dead — since he was about a hundred years old — and that
Sarah's womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through
unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened
in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded
that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is
why "it was credited to him as righteousness." 23 The words
"it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, 24
but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness — for
us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the
dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was
raised to life for our justification. NIV
God’s grace guides Abraham
despite his misguided faith. God was patient when
Abraham and Sarah were having trouble believing the
impossible as they made their plans to make it all happen on
their terms. Amazingly, God didn’t even interrupt their
plans. God’s grace was not exhausted when they thought his
plans were ludicrous. They believed God, but sought
to work out the details for him. Faith and human ingenuity
didn’t work. In spite of their misguided faith—grace
prevailed. God’s grace brought them to a point where they
had to believe against all hope.
God brought them face to
face with their inability to make it all happen.
Yet, his grace salvaged the mess they put themselves in as
they sought to work it out for themselves. God salvaged all
those involved in the mess. God blessed Hagar and Ishmael.
Hagar ought to encourage every one. God does not forsake
when cast out.
As I read through Scripture
I am amazed at how often those seeking God tried to make
their own plans to bring about God’s promises. Many
sought to live perfect lives. Many have sought to establish
God’s kingdom according to their plans. Moses killed an
Egyptian. Jonah refused to preach to Nineveh. Peter cut off
a man’s ear. Paul had Stephen killed. Abraham laughed at
God’s promise. Faith does not always make sense. Yet, those
who faithfully seek God will find him.
Genesis 17:17-18
17
Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, "Will
a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear
a child at the age of ninety?" 18 And Abraham said to God,
"If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!" NIV
God’s grace is determined.
How many times do we make our own plans expecting
God to bless them simply because we believe in him? We
believe in what God wants us to do. We make our plans to
make it happen and expect faith to empower our actions. We
have it all figured out. But God squelches our plans. His
grace leads us through the impossible as he opens our eyes
to his presence and his plans.
God’s grace is custom made
for each one of us. Abraham was all alone. He had no
one to look to but God. He didn’t have scripture. God made
his life a part of Scripture. God’s grace was custom made
for him. It brought him to the end of himself. It was there
he finally saw that “God will provide,” as he attempted to
offer the son of promise a sacrifice to God. I often wonder
how Isaac felt as he lay bound on that alter—how often did
he think of this ordeal throughout his life.
God’s grace was not only
extended to Abraham, but also to those hurt by his misguided
faith. Hagar was deeply hurt by Abraham and Sarah’s
plan. After Hagar’s conception Sarah became jealous and
bitter. Sarah made Hagar’s life bitter. Hagar ran away. It
was there God visited her.
Genesis 16:9-14
9
Then the angel of the LORD told her, "Go back to your
mistress and submit to her." 10 The angel added, "I will so
increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to
count."
11
The angel of the LORD also said to her:
"You are now with child
and you will have a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
for the LORD has heard of your misery.
12
He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone's hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward all his brothers."
13
She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: "You are
the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One
who sees me." 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai
Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered. NIV
These stories help us
develop a real faith in God as they allow us to see the God
who sees each of us. Hagar’s misery didn’t end here.
Sarah’s bitterness eventually drove Hagar and her son out of
Abraham’s family after Isaac was born. Hagar was a part of
the problem as she taunted Sarah about Ishmael being the
first born. I can only wonder if Hagar misinterpreted God’s
promised blessing to her and Ishmael. Did it lead her to
taunt Sarah? Sarah was determined that Isaac would be the
heir of Abraham’s blessedness. How painful it must have been
when God told Abraham to obey Sarah’s instruction to send
Hagar and his son away. Yet, God’s blessing remained upon
each of them in spite of their human weakness. God’s grace
was tailor made for each one of them.
God’s grace uses our
weakness to our advantage—to bring us to faith in him.
God’s grace is so gracious that you begin to realize that
God was the master over every dead end road you have taken.
Those dead end roads may lead us to cry the cry of Naomi as
she came to the end of herself, “God has made my life
bitter.” As I study the book of Ruth, I realize God’s grace
was the master of her bitter road. She experienced His
grace. God’s grace may make us cry out with Solomon, “All is
vanity and vexation of the spirit.” It eventually led him to
declare the whole duty of man—fear God and keep his
commandments. We may eventually cry out with Hagar, “I have
now seen the One who sees me!” Or it may the cry of Jonah,
“God’s way makes me angry.” God’s purpose is to bring us to
face to face with him as we face the impossible. The
impossible we face is usually ourselves. Hopefully, we will
proclaim with Abraham, “I know God will provide” as we learn
that God’s grace is sufficient.
God’s grace is custom made
for each of us to enable us to see the one who sees us.
One purpose of God’s law to the Jews was to bring them to
depend upon God as they realized that no person could live a
righteous life through obedience to the law. The Law should
have brought them to a greater appreciation of God’s grace.
Yet, the law intended for a blessing became a curse for the
misguided. They sought righteousness on their terms.
Scripture brought Paul to the end of himself when he cried
out “O wretched man that I am.” The law of Scripture helped
him understand perfection was beyond his reach. Gods grace
brought him to the end of himself when he struggled with his
personal weakness. Yet, God’s grace refused to remove his
weakness. Paul cries out, “Your grace is sufficient.” God
enabled Paul by keeping him humble so he could grow in faith
to experience his grace.
A Pristine Look at Faith
The Gospel is about "the
power of God unto salvation" (Romans 1:16). The
faithful of old were not sinless. They were righteous. God
did not hold their sins against them. He credited them with
righteous. He paid the debt. In his own time he sacrificed
Christ. Christ atoned for every sin they committed. He has
atoned for every sin humanity will ever commit. He was and
is the author of our salvation. Salvation is not about the
power of faith regardless of how weak. It is about the power
of God for the weak and helpless. It is grace in action. It
comes through faith regardless of how weak.
Romans 14:1-4
14:1 Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing
judgment on disputable matters. 2 One man's faith allows him
to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak,
eats only vegetables. 3 The man who eats everything must not
look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat
everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has
accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge someone else's servant?
To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for
the Lord is able to make him stand. NIV
There was a time in my
earlier bible studies I sought to judge Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob by the law God gave Moses. How often do we
look back through history and judge great people of history
by today’s standards. I am amazed at how we judge Columbus
for sailing to our new world. He brought disease and havoc.
One day as I read Romans I realized Abraham never had a copy
of the law. They were saved before they were circumcised.
They were saved before scripture. They simply lived by
faith. How pristine it was from our perspective. God
completed his work in them. God graciously saved them. He
blessed them and us through Jesus Christ. Christ was the
promise God made to Abraham. Through Christ God continues to
fulfill his promise to Abraham—all families will be blessed
through Abraham’s descendant—Christ.
Too often our salvation is
based upon Scripture without understanding the context of
the scripture. Looking back on God’s promise to
Abraham helps us realize what God will do for the weak and
struggling believers. We begin to realize that God will
complete his work in each of us. I am absolutely sure that
God’s work of salvation through Abraham descendants provoked
Paul to pen words such as these.
Philippians 1:2-6
2
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ.
3
I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my
prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of
your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,
6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in
you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ
Jesus. NIV
Paul understood these verses
in the context of Scripture as a whole. Grace is
about who we are. We are sinners. Grace is about is about
trusting God to carry out his plan in and through us.
Romans 4:5-8
5
However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who
justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as
righteousness. 6 David says the same thing when he speaks of
the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness
apart from works:
7
"Blessed are they
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
8
Blessed is the man
whose sin the Lord will never count against him." NIV
This is grace in
action--grace doesn’t count our sins against us. Faith doesn’t make us sinless--it does allow God to credit
his righteousness to the wicked through faith. Faith allows
God’s grace to work in our lives. I would like to wake up
one morning and be able to say sin is gone from my life. But
Grace says no. I was conceived in sin. I must live with this
sinful body until the day I die. We inherited this sinful
nature from Adam and Eve.
Psalms 51:3-9
3
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so
that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.
5
Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6
Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
7
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9
Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity. NIV
Romans 3:9-18
9
What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all!
We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike
are all under sin. 10 As it is written:
"There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands,
no
one who seeks God.
12
All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one."
13
"Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit."
"The poison of vipers is on their lips."
14
"Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness."
15
"Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16
ruin and misery mark their ways,
17
and the way of peace they do not know."
18
"There is no fear of God before their eyes." NIV
Paul writes to those who
thought they could live above sin. There was a time
in my life, when I read these scriptures that I lost all
hope. A course in Bible College on how to interpret the
Scriptures through mathematical logical deduction almost did
me in. I always failed the logic test in my personal life.
This is not what salvation is about. I failed to realize
these scriptures were written to those who thought they
could come to God on their terms—on their goodness. These
scriptures were designed to put a sock in the mouths of the
self-righteous.
Through the years I began to
understand the following verses.
1
John 1:8
8
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the
truth is not in us.
1
John 1:9-10
9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will
forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a
liar and his word has no place in our lives. NIV
I hasten to say Grace is not
designed to enable us to live in sin believing that God will
rescue us regardless. He extends his grace to
salvage us from sin’s grip.
Romans 6:1-4
6:1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that
grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can
we live in it any longer? 3 Or don't you know that all of us
who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his
death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism
into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the
dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new
life. NIV
God’s grace is such that if
we choose to live in sin, God will discipline us. Salvation by grace doesn’t mean we won’t have to live with
the consequences of our choices. Sarah and Abraham had to
live with their choice to have Ishmael. God’s grace did not
desert them, but they had to deal with the consequences.
God’s grace deepened their faith in God. Hopefully the
consequences of our bad choices will bring us to a deeper
faith in God. If we persist in sin; he will allow sin to
enslave us. Cain was told that sin was crouching at his door
desiring to be his master. His choices allowed sin to do
master him. Faith in God was his only hope.
God’s Grace Brings
Deliverance
I am amazed at how many
times God’s grace delivered Abraham from his self-conceived
plans. Abraham’s futile plans demanded God’s
gracious deliverance. God saved him from his half truths.
God was even willing to save Abraham when he doubted.
Genesis 15:2-5
2
But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me
since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my
estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3 And Abram said, "You have
given me no children; so a servant in my household will be
my heir."
4
Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be
your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your
heir." 5 He took him outside and said, "Look up at the
heavens and count the stars — if indeed you can count them."
Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." NIV
Amazingly it was after this
promise that Abraham and Sarah conceived a plan to have a
son by Hagar. Abraham’s plans were not ill
conceived. He was truly seeking God’s will for his life. He
knew that if he was going to have a son it would have to be
by a woman that wasn’t post menopausal. It blinded him to
the supernatural. We aren’t much different. We make our
plans thinking they are God’s will. We ask God to make to
make our plans his plans. We seek signs from God to confirm
our plans. We believe the more extravagant the plan the
greater our faith. After all we are seeking to do his will.
Our hope is that God will bless. He usually does bless us.
He simply overrides our plans with his plans. It’s grace in
action.
We may think of God’s grace
solely as forgiveness and fail to see God’s work of
deliverance in our lives. Looking back at the lives
of the faithful I am reminded that grace is about God
accomplishing his purpose through us. We struggle to believe
while God brings his work to fruition to fruition in our
lives.
Philippians 1:3-6
3
I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my
prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of
your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,
6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in
you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ
Jesus. NIV
Today God carries on his
work to accomplish his purpose through the promised seed.
Abraham didn’t have a Bible. I am not encouraging you to
throw away your Bible to live as Abraham lived. I am
encouraging you to learn about faith from the father of the
faithful. He had only the simple promise of God. He was
almost alone as a believer, surrounded by heathen
unbelievers. He could not look back at a long record of the
faithful although he would be a part the record. He could
not look back at what God had done for others. He could only
take God at his word. Yet Abraham believed.
This is where Christianity
begins. It requires stepping out on faith in God.
Faith requires repentance toward God or turning to God.
Acts 20:21
I
have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to
God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. NIV
Christ is the fulfillment of
God’s promise to Abraham. All Abraham had was a
promise. Today we more, we have Christ. Salvation history to
reminds us of God’s faithfulness to his promises. We can
enjoy the fruition all his promises through Christ. It
should make turning to God in repentance and faith much
easier. We become heirs of the promise when we believe in
God’s promises in Christ. We declare that faith by being
baptized into Christ. In doing so we become heirs of the
promise made to Abraham.
Galatians 3:26-29
26
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27
for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed
yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek,
slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in
Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are
Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. NIV
Conclusion:
The amazing thing about salvation
by grace through faith is that God is not nervously standing
over me telling me I am going to screw it up. He knows I
will. It is in the moment we cry the cries of the faithful
as we realize Gods presence in our struggle that makes it
all worthwhile to God.
Yes, the apostles preach faith
throughout the New Testament. They see Christ through the
promises God made to Abraham. They knew only faith in a God
who could and would provide salvage their lives and save
them eternally would sustain those struggling to see the God
who sees them.
