At His Feet

Reflections about Genesis Chapter 15

Majority of us know about the story of Abraham. He is the one God chose to make the nations out of. Recap: God called Abraham out of his homeland and comfort zone to go to the promised land that He would give Abraham. Abraham, being faithful, obeyed, taking his wife and nephew along with him. God led him to Canaan to traveled through to a place called Moreh. Now, the story is about a dream, a calling on a person's life and the struggles a person faces reaching that dream. It also shows that the doors God opens for us, no one will ever be able to shut.

I went over chapter 15 of Genesis because personally, it's one of my favorite (verse 1) because God spoke to me in this chapter before. It was for a different reason back then but now it is for another reason. It's amazing how God's word works; it's breathing and alive, speaking to others differently. One scripture can tell us something one time but next time, it can tell us something else. It speaks to our lives in all areas and the meaning can apply to whatever we are going through or will go through. It reveals our own hearts to us; our fears, pride, insecurities and it can convict us, encourage us, warn us, etc. I think it's amazing!

I noticed a couple things in chapter 15 that I never really noticed before. In verse two, I see that Abraham had a dream in his heart; a desire that he longed for that it kept him up at night just thinking about it. The dream didn't seem to be happening and it was eating at him. He felt scared and discouraged, which is why God told him in verse one "Do not be afraid Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great."

Abraham (Abram) told God his fear. He said "O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don't even have a son? Since I don't have a son, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all of my wealth."

Abraham's dream was to have a son, someone who could inherit everything from him. He longed to have a baby boy. Now this may not seem important to many people these days and some may even tilt their heads and call this a very small dream (Not too sure so don't shoot me! I love kids!) To some, our dreams may be small and meaningless in their eyes, it might make them perplexed because these days all I hear is "This job makes a lot of money or it'll make you famous." and it's kind of heartbreaking.

Sometimes it just seems that people focus more on fame and wealth rather than other things. Abraham had both but those weren't his dream; they were God's blessing. Abraham's dream had yet to be answered.

As we continue on the story of Abraham, God tells him that Eliezer will not inherit his things and that Abraham WILL have a son. He makes Abraham go outside to count the stars, telling him that is how many descendants Abraham will have. Have you ever been out in the wild; no city lights to block your view? The stars are everywhere in the sky, never-ending, and numerous!

It CAN'T BE COUNTED!

That was God's point.

He was telling His servant, Abraham, "You are going to have a son, Abram, and it won't be just one little dream I'm going to grant. I am going to take your dream and multiply it. A nation will be born and they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky and sand on the shore. Look around, look and try to count them."

Abraham believed God.

He listened to God's words and had faith in what was being said.

Usually, that when the happy ending pops out and we think, once we get our dreams, everything is going to be great! Hollywood works that way but this is life. I'm not being pessimistic, I'm just not living in a fantasy.

Yes, there will be joy, if God is with us, there will always be joy despite the circumstances we face in life but that doesn't mean the journey will be easy. Even after we get our dreams, reach our calling, there will be forces that will try to take us down so it'll take good hard work to stand still and a lot of trust and faith in God.

God told Abraham that he will have a son and Abraham trusted God. He believed God so God counted Abraham as righteous for his faith. Keep in mind, Abraham was old (in his 70s) so it was a huge step of faith to believe God. Abraham asked, "how can I be sure of this?"

So God answered.

God had Abraham bring him certain animals. Abraham brought them and cut them in half (not the birds though) and laid them side by side. He made sure that no vultures came to mess with the sacrifice. When evening hit, Abraham fell asleep and had a nightmare.

God was showing Abraham the future; what would happen to his descendants in the land of Egypt; how they would be enslaved and mistreated. However, God said that He will punish the nation that enslaves the Israelites and they will come out with great wealth. Sounds familiar anybody? The story of Moses?

Reading this, it made me realize that God was showing Abraham the future; the struggle it will take to reach the promised land. The calling God gives us takes hard work and doing the work even if we don't feel like it. We need to be deliberate in our actions because it will affect our tomorrows. Also, our dreams are not the big picture either; it's part of the big picture (maybe) but it's not the full picture because Abraham wanted a son, just a son, but God made a nation out of Abraham. It overflowed (which is amazing!) but also because God saw the big picture and the reason He called Abraham.

God has a calling on our lives too, each one of us has a calling and God equips us for the calling and guides us along when we trust Him. He gave us dreams too. God is an amazing author and Father. He gave us HIS ONLY SON JESUS CHRIST JUST FOR OUR SALVATION! So would He really hold anything back from us?

So what's holding you back?

Seek God above all things and everything else will fall into place.