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Amidst the ruins of World War II Germany, a woman named Basilea Schlink brought together a small group of women in a faith community. They believed God wanted them to build a chapel, but they had nothing more than prayer, faith, and the encouragement of Scripture. They prayed, and land was donated, but repeatedly the building authority said, “You can’t build on that land.”

One morning she read this passage from Colossians 2:10: “(Christ) is the head of all rule and authority.” She decided to walk 45 minutes into town to visit the building authority and, on her way, a car slowed to offer her a ride. The driver was the town’s mayor. “This man is the high official of our town that the Scripture spoke about,” she realized, and in five minutes she was able to explain her request. The building permit was granted, and a prayer tent was erected on the property as the women asked God to provide the missing $61,990 of the $62,000 needed to build. The funds came in. Schlink wrote that “this experience deeply etched into our hearts our responsibility to hang on in faith when a situation seems hopeless, for then the name of the Lord can be glorified before many people. “

In Romans 4:13-25, Paul analyzed Abraham’s faith so that people would know what constitutes faith. God’s promise is independent of the law and rests squarely on the principle of faith. Abraham’s faith was based on confidence in God. When God’s people look to the law for justification instead of looking to God, failure to keep the law makes them guilty and they face death instead of life. The object of faith is that which really matters more than anything else.