Robin Gilman

Day 23: Read Genesis 15:7-21

 

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.” But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” (15:7–8)

In the verses that we read yesterday, God promised Abram descendants. Now he’s promising him the land. Abram wants confirmation, so they go through this (strange to us) ceremony, which was how covenants were made in that culture.

Note that God said that he was the one who brought Abram out from Ur to give him the land. Yet, we read in Genesis 11:31 that it was Abram’s father, Terah, who brought them out. But, according to God, He Himself, was behind this. God tells Abram that his descendants will be sojourners in a land that isn’t theirs and will be servants there for four hundred years (!) and that He will bring judgement on the nation they serve and bring them out with great possessions. Four hundred years seems an awful long time, but God has His purposes. He doesn’t seem to count time as we do. As Peter writes “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day” (1 Peter 3:8). God knew that the sinful Amorites would only sin more and He was going to judge them and give Abram’s descendants their land.

What is going on in any given moment is so much more than what we know!

Here’s one example from my life: When I was in seventh grade, I attended a special French immersion school. Towards the end of that year, my mother heard about an opportunity for me to go to a French (not immersion) high school. She convinced me to go, even though none of my friends would be going, as it was very far from where we lived. It was there where I met a whole group of believers, and became best friends with one of them, who eventually led me to the Lord. My mother’s purpose was for me to become bilingual, but God was working for a far greater purpose. (I became bilingual too, by the way.)

Prayer: O God! You are at work and doing so much more than I can see! Forgive me for sometimes thinking life is all about me and my family. Thank You that You do care about us specifically even while You are doing so much everywhere! All praise to You! You are the Almighty!