Promises, Promises
1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great." 2 But Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3 And Abram said, "You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir." 4 But the word of the LORD came to him, "This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir." 5 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." 6 And he believed the LORD; and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness. 7 Then he said to him, "I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess." 8 But he said, "O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?"
(Genesis 15:1-8)
Abram had been faithful (mostly) - with his wife, Sarai, in tow he had left his home to go to an unknown place, trusting God's promise to make him a great nation. But, many years later Abram and Sarai remained childless. So when - after a turbulent situation with Abram's nephew, Lot - God spoke to him in a vision with another promise, Abram would hear none of it. Abram spoke to God honestly and boldly - demanding that God keep the original promise, and give Abram proof that God could be trusted. Amazingly, God met Abram where he was and "cut" a covenant - a binding agreement - with Abram; essentially saying, "may I be slain like theses animals if I do not keep my word". Wow!
Should we take from this that we ought to confront God just as boldly as Abram and expect an answer? Sure. Should we be encouraged to remind God of God's promises, and hold God to them? Certainly. But more importantly, we should be assured that God is faithful and trustworthy, and we should be amazed at the lengths to which God will go to display that faithfulness - all the way to and through the cross.
It took more than twenty years after the original promise for Abram and Sarai (by then renamed by God, Abraham and Sarah) to see God's promise of a child fulfilled. So, while none of Abram's boldness sped up God's timeline, what awesome reassurance God gave in answer to distrust; what unmatched compassion was given in answer to bitterness; and what patience was shown in the face of impatience. May we learn day by day to rest in trusting assurance in our always working, promise keeping God.
7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me! 8 "Come," my heart says, "seek his face!" Your face, LORD, do I seek. 9 Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger, you who have been my help. Do not cast me off, do not forsake me, O God of my salvation! 10 If my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will take me up. (Psalm 27:7-10)
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