Read with Me
Genesis 15:1-6 (HCSB)
After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:
Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield;
your reward will be very great.
But Abram said, “Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Abram continued, “Look, You have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.”
Now the word of the LORD came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then He said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”
Abram believed the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness.
Listen with Me
Abram had been in the land for several years at this point. Even though he had grown in wealth and possessions to an astonishing degree, he still had not received one key thing promised by God: a son who would inherit his possessions, his property, and the covenant promise God had given to him.
Thus, even though God spoke reassurance to Abram’s heart, he still harbored doubts and fears. He had left behind family and friends that had meant far more to him than the riches he had since acquired. Was all that in vain?
In response to God’s assurances, Abram reminded him of His promises to him to give him abundant descendants (Genesis 12:2). At that point, Abram and Sarai had not had a child. That meant that if Abram died, everything he owned would go to his head servant, and the promise would be negated.
God’s response was to reiterate His original promise. Abram would indeed father a child who would not only inherit all his worldly property, but who would also form the basis of a line of descendants that would outnumber the stars.
This was a good promise. And despite the current circumstances, Abram believed it. God had been faithful to him for many years at this point, and except for this one thing, He had kept every promise He had made to him. In Abram’s eyes, God’s past faithfulness was a definite guarantee that He would be able to complete His promise.
Abram was an imperfect man. He didn’t know God and all He was capable of, which left him open to doubts and prone to take on himself things that God could do for him, such as protecting him and his family in foreign lands. His learning was a slow process, because his early teachings had been all about gods who were represented by a silent, inert idols (Joshua 24:12). A God who could speak and act was something new, something a bit inscrutable, and something that was more than a bit frightening.
Despite all that, Abram believed the promise God was making to him, trusting not only that He really could do what He had was promising, but that He would. And despite his many flaws, God counted that trust in Him and His word as righteousness in His sight.
Pray with Me
Father, Abram trusted in You even beyond what he could know or understand of You. He trusted You, in fact, when all rationality argued against the things You were promising. That trust showed what was in Abram’s heart. Though he was weak in many ways, fallible in many ways, and ignorant in many ways, he put all his faith in You and Your promise. He was all in. And that opened the door for You to complete the work You had been doing in his life. Lord, help me to trust in You completely, even though I, too, am weak, fallible, and ignorant in my own strength, so that You may complete the good work You have begun in me (Philippians 1:6). Amen.