Resting in God's Promise | Chris Howard | Genesis 15:1-21
This week at Grace, we’re diving into Genesis 15—a powerful moment where God makes a promise and backs it up with an oath that changes everything. It’s a chapter about faith, covenant, and learning what it means to place our confidence not in ourselves but in God’s faithfulness. If you've ever wondered how to actually trust God in the middle of uncertainty, this is the week to lean in.
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REFLECT: It's deeply human to want reassurance. Abram asks God, "how can I know what you've promised me will come to be?" God answers Abram with his word and with something visible. He does the same for us through Scripture, the bread and the cup, baptism, and with the Holy Spirit. -Is your life surrounded by Scripture? -How does remembering your baptism aid in trusting God's faithfulness toward you? -How have you seen the Holy Spirit guide you to live on mission with Christ?
God's Covenant with Abram
15 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[a] 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[b] 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.
7 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.” 8 But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give[c] this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”
REFLECTION
Abram resists the temptation of wealth by someone that violates his conscience. We could hear him saying "There's no way I'm going to get rich or be blessed by someone like you, King of Sodom!" In our own lives, we may encounter a similar situation--maybe we get a job offer or opportunity to receive gain but it comes at the cost of being in the company of great compromise. Do you take it? Or like Abram do you resist wealth in favor of trusting God for blessing and provision? How might who you are in relationship with be shaping your soul and cirumstance?