"Some time later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.”
(2) But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you've given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. (3) You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.”
(4) Then the Lord said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” (5) Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”
(6) And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith."
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This is one of my favorite passages of scripture. At this point in Abraham's life, he has left everything to go toward the promise land at God's direction and he has been told he will be the "Father of Nations," having many descendants and blessings for the whole world (Genesis 12:2-3). As you can tell by verse 1, Abraham has not even had his name changed yet, it is still Abram.
Abram, renamed later as Abraham, one of the great men of faith, is having a moment of doubt. God tells Abram of his blessings, but Abram doesn't quite believe him. Abram asks,"What good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son?" It seems like a good question to me.
The best thing here is that God doesn't get angry with Abram. Instead, He answers him. He repeats His blessing over Abram, reassuring him that He will indeed have a son. Abram asks, God answers. What a powerful moment.
Are we afraid God will be angry with us if we ask Him about His plan? Are we less because we don't see how God can make a situation work? Are you asking God the hard questions? Why not? Abram did. And God answered.
"Look up in the sky," God says. "And count the stars if you can." I love this. One of my favorite quite moments is at night when the sky is clear and you can see the stars. It is of course impossible to count them all. But God knows each one's name. It is a testament of God's sovereignty. I believe God gives us the stars as guides and as a promise. It is a visual way to know that God is always with us and we are connected directly to Him.
God may not be promising you to be the founder of nations, but He does promise you something. Every person on this earth is here for a purpose. God knows each of our names and what is on each of our hearts. And He has a plan for you. When we focus on Him, when we trust His plan for our lives, even when we can't understand it, then He will call us righteous.
Even though Abraham had a moment of doubt, God turned it into a moment of belief. Through our doubts God can show us our purpose. By asking God can help us understand. And when we have faith that God has it all under control, when we can trust His perfect plan, we too will be called righteous.
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