Genesis 15:1–11 (ESV) —
1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, 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, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
7 And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out 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?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
NOTE: Abram is struggling with fear. The fear is probably two-fold. One, in an area known for vengeance and retaliation, he has just made at least 4 or 5 new enemies. Two, he is getting older and he is still childless. Lot went back to Sodom. Life was not heading in the right direction from his perspective, despite the amazing victory to rescue Lot. God meets with him and gives him a great promise of future blessings. He promises him to be his shield and protect him, and promises to reward him. We struggle with Gods' definition of reward. God's reward is always going to be better than what we want, but we don't see it. We have to trust and sometimes we have to wait. We want it all now. And we want things that are not really that important. But God knows what we really need, and he wants to use our lives for a greater glory.
PONDER:
- What do I fear?
- What do I truly fear if I am honest? And why?
PRAYER: Father, I fear a lot of stupid things. I fear taking care of things before they fall apart and get worst because I don't have time. I fear my children making poor choices. I fear pain. I fear the unknown. Give me grace to trust in you and believe you. You are my shield too, I have seen it. And I have found you to be my very great reward. Thank you.
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