Word of Encouragement (01/19/2022)
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. (Gen. 15:1-6).
Here is Abram’s conversation with God. If prayer can be broadly defined as a conversation with God, this fits the bill. But prayer is more specifically what we say to God. So, we will focus on what Abram says to God in this conversation with Him.
“After these things” refers to Abram rescuing Lot and his family from the alliance of Chedorlaomer and other kings, who defeated Sodom and Gomorrah and took from them spoils and captives. Lot and his family were captured and taken as well. Abram went after the kings and rescued Lot and his family. God appeared to him “after these things” and said, “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” We can guess from this assurance what Abram’s mental condition was at that time. Having antagonized these kings, he must have felt unsafe. How gracious God was to appear to him and assure him in this way!
Abram’s response shows that he believed the first part of God’s assurance—“Fear not, Abram, I am your shield....” We say that because he did not pose any question regarding this promise as he did with the second part. This assurance must have reinforced the lesson he had learned in Egypt. If God was powerful enough to protect him and his wife from Pharaoh and strike fear into Pharaoh’s soul, he could trust God to protect him from far lesser kings.
But it seems that something else concerned Abram even more than the hostility of the surrounding kings. His response shows that he had a problem with the second assurance—“your reward shall be very great.” What was his response? “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus...? Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” We can see how discouraged he was. His real question was not “What will you give me?” but “What does it matter what you give me since I am childless?” God had already blessed him with much material possession. But he was getting older, as was Sarah his wife. He could not help but think about his death and what all his possessions meant once he was gone if he didn’t have any heir.
The desire to have children was so much stronger in the ancient world than now. There were many reasons for this—economic, genealogical, psychological, etc. But Abram had an even more important reason—God’s promise to him: “To your offspring I will give this land” (Gen. 12:7). We understand Abram well, don’t we? I’m sure some of us are frustrated with God deep inside. We know He is good. He promised good to us. But when we survey our situation, that’s not what we see at all. And we wonder how God’s love for us has anything to do with our circumstances. But we must admit that to think like that is to put God in a small box of our small knowledge and imagination. Abram had to wait many more years but he later learned that God was much greater than he thought.
You may be where Abram was. But I hope you can acknowledge that God cannot be defined by your circumstances. Yes, you are where you are in God’s providence. But that doesn’t mean that God’s providence will keep you there forever. Remember that the way God will change your circumstances is not confined by your limited knowledge and imagination. Let us trust Him and wait patiently for His marvelous work and timing.