Day 30

“He took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the heavens and count the stars – if indeed you can count them’. Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be’. Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”  — GENESIS 15:5-6

One of the great doctrines of the Christian faith is that of ‘justification by faith’. It means that a person is made right with God, not on the basis of anything they have done, but solely on the basis of what Christ has done. It was the rediscovery of this truth that was the catalyst of the Reformation in the 16th century, initiated by Martin Luther, which revolutionized the Christian faith as we know it today. 

 As a precedent of what it means to be justified by faith, the Apostle Paul, in Romans 4:3, quotes Genesis 15:6, “And Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” Abram was a man whose faith co-existed with fear, but then moves to a man exercising faith, and then to a man expecting fulfillment. In a vision, God said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward (Genesis 15:1). That raises the question, why was Abram afraid? Ten years earlier, God had promised him a son, and from that son would come a nation that would bless the world. Abram was well on in years, settled in a foreign land, and as far as a promised son was concerned, nothing had materialized. 

 God then took Abram outside and reassures him. “Look up at the heavens and count the stars – if indeed you can count them. So shall your offspring be.” God likens His response to the stars, too numerous to count, but as the light begins to dawn, they quickly disappear. When Abraham looked up, he believed God, but in the harsh light of day, doubts set in and his faith co-existed with fear. Sometimes what God shows us in the light of day seems to be totally unrealistic. There is a saying, “Don’t doubt in the dark what God has shown you in the light,” but here, the reverse is true. “Don’t doubt in the light what God has shown you in the dark.”

 God does much of His work in the dark. 2 Chronicles 6:1-2 says, “The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness.” When God tells Abram, “I am your shield, your very great reward,” He is essentially saying, “Abram, apply all that you know about Me to all that you do not know about your circumstances.” However troubling our situations, if we plug what we don’t know about them with what we know about God, then we are exercising faith, and can expect fulfillment. Justification by faith is not only the means to salvation, but is the gift of God, which enables us to live by faith, completely dependent upon a God who is utterly trustworthy.

PRAYER: Dear Father, in troubling times, I know I am guilty of having my faith co-exist with fear. Help me to overcome my fears and focus entirely on You, and not on my circumstances. In your precious name, I pray. Amen.

TO REFLECT UPON: Recall a troubling situation where God took a back seat to my fear and anxiety. How would that change now if I were to focus on Christ, plugging all that I know about Him with what I don’t know about my circumstances?