Wednesday December 11th, 2019 Genesis 15:1-19
He brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your descendants be." (verse 5)
Abram and Sarai experienced what many couples face, namely, infertility. Try as they might, they had no children. What made this an especially complicated and sad situation was that God had earlier promised them children. But now here they were, many years after God’s promise, well-aged and childless.
We know how frustrating it can be to do God’s work, following where we believe God is leading, only to run into roadblock after roadblock. Like Abram and Sarai, we try alternative plans to reach our goals (read Genesis 16 which narrates the birth of Ishmael, Abram and Hagar’s son). Sometimes, we just give up, convinced that we misheard God, misinterpreted God’s directions, or that God hadn’t spoken in the first place. I suspect, Abram and Sarai were no different.
Then came the vision, one of the more famous passages from Genesis. “Count the stars, Abram,” encouraged God. “Your descendants will be as numerous as they.” (verse 5) Incredibly, Abram believed, and God awarded him the stamp of approval; reckoned it to him as righteousness.
In this season of waiting and expecting, let us believe. God will act in God’s good time. Always has. Always will.
Gracious God, teach me to wait on you. Amen. — DAB
Contributed by Wait for it
Abram and Sarai experienced what many couples face, namely, infertility. Try as they might, they had no children. What made this an especially complicated and sad situation was that God had earlier promised them children. But now here they were, many years after God's promise, well-aged and childless.
We know how frustrating it can be to do God's work, following where we believe God is leading, only to run into roadblock after roadblock. Like Abram and Sarai, we try alternative plans to reach our goals (read Genesis 16 which narrates the birth of Ishmael, Abram and Hagar's son). Sometimes, we just give up, convinced that we misheard God, misinterpreted God's directions, or that God hadn't spoken in the first place. I suspect, Abram and Sarai were no different.
Then came the vision, one of the more famous passages from Genesis. "Count the stars, Abram," encouraged God. "Your descendants will be as numerous as they." (verse 5) Incredibly, Abram believed, and God awarded him the stamp of approval; reckoned it to him as righteousness.
In this season of waiting and expecting, let us believe. God will act in God's good time. Always has. Always will.
