Responding to God
This year I’ve been journaling my way through the Bible, taking time as I read to think and pray and really study things out. Well, I was reading in Genesis 15 the other day and something caught my attention:
First, God comes to Abraham with a stunning truth:
“I am Thy shield, and Thy exceeding great reward.” (v.1)
Just imagine! God not only appeared to Abraham, but declared Himself to be Abraham’s shield, or protector, and also his reward—and not just any reward, his “exceeding great reward.” God Himself was pledging to be a defender and provider for the man who was to be the father of God’s own people.
If God appeared to you and said that, how would you feel? What would you say? In the face of this amazing truth about who God was promising to be in Abraham’s life, Abraham opens his mouth and this is what comes out:
“Lord, what wilt Thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?”(v.2)
God has just declared Himself to be Abraham’s all—protector, provider, reward; in short, He promised to be Abraham’s all-encompassing source of everything. And what does Abraham do? He asks “What wilt Thou give me?”
Instead of being filled with gratitude, Abraham looks at the one thing God had not given him yet, points to it, and in essence, says, “but what about that? Aren’t you going to give me what you promised?”
Seem ungrateful?
But don’t you and I do that very same thing in our own lives? We read the grand declarations of who God is and what He desires to be to us, and then we go about our day as if God owes us something. We respond to His all-sufficient gift of Himself not with loving gratitude, but with a sense of entitlement, asking instead, “but what about…?” or “but why can’t I…?”
Aren’t you glad that God is longsuffering and loving? In Abraham’s case, God so tenderly reminds him of His promise, adding the reassuring detail that “he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.” (v.4)
Though it now seemed impossible, God told Abraham that He would indeed fulfil His plan by giving Abraham and Sarah a son, just as He had promised all along.
God then gives Abraham an illustration of what He plans to do, telling him to look up at the stars and see for himself the vast magnitude of the promise to be fulfilled.
And the result?
“Abraham believed in the Lord; and He counted it unto him for righteousness.” (v.6)
Sometimes I think God makes us wait for things so we will learn to seek them from His hand, in trusting humility. When we do, God builds our faith, and often gives a glimpse of the vast scope of His good plan for us and others of His people.
In this world, it is so easy to live each day preoccupied with ourselves, our problems, our needs. Then, when we come to God it is with a sense of entitlement, expecting God to do our bidding. We are so focused ourselves, we are blind to our own ingratitude. But God is merciful, and bids us look up, see who He is, and believe.
May we walk through life today and every day with a heart to hear what God is saying and to respond in loving gratitude and faith!
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6)