Stars

Edited by Kay Beam

Ever moved?

If you have moved, you know that it can be a big hassle. You have to go to the area that you are moving to so you can find a place to live. You also go to scout out neighborhoods to see what might be best for your family. In looking for the neighborhood, you look and see what schools are in the area for that neighborhood. You have to put your house up for sale and start the process of getting a new house or place to live.

Stressful right?

But think about it like this, you know where you are going and have time to prepare for the move. This is not how it was for Abram in Genesis 12. Abram was quite comfortable in Harran. He had family and many possessions. But God came to Abram one day and told him to pack up and go to a new land. But God did not even tell Abraham where that was. God told Abram to “go from you country… to the land I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1)

Talk about stressful!

So Abram, who is 75 at this time, gathers up his possessions and he, Sarai (his wife) and nephew Lot set out for the land that God had for them. God had promised Abram that he would be a great nation and bless him. But time passed and Abram did not see any blessings. Abram started to get discouraged. Abram started to wonder if he had made up all this stuff about a blessing from God.

But then God spoke to him.

God took Abram outside his tent and told him “’Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.’” Then he said to him, “’So shall your offspring be.’” (Genesis 15:5) Abram still did not understand. He was old. Sarai was old. How was he going to have a bunch of offspring? Sarai even laughed at the whole idea.

God wanted Abram to trust that He had a plan. Sometimes the things in life start to not add up in the way we thought that they would. In those moments, however, doubt creeps in. Doubt can be a real beast because it comes from the Devil himself. The Devil makes us think things that we shouldn’t about ourselves and this makes us start to second guess what God has for our lives. The words of doubt can also come from the people in our lives, whether it’s a friend, family member, a spouse, or anyone else that we might have verbal contact with. The Devil tries to make his voice as loud as possible so we can’t hear the one voice that matters the most.

God had Abram look at an object that he was going to see every night as a way of reminding Abram that He was going to bless him greatly. God wants to bless everyone greatly. So when you look up at the stars at night I hope you see the numerous blessings that God has for you.

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