After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.” Genesis 15:1-7
God spoke to Abraham after he refused to accept the wealth offered by the king of Salem. God told Abraham that He was his shield and his great reward.
This is a foundational truth for all of us. We all may desire various things in life, but our first and foremost priority is to have God’s hand in our lives. He is the ultimate reward. Without His favor and protection we may have much in life, but we will not have peace and security in life. Although, God met the most important need of Abraham, He didn’t stop there.
This reminds me of the story in Genesis 2 when God created everything, and then He created Adam. Adam was in a perfect bliss in his relationship to God. However, God knew that in addition to Adam’s relationship to God, it was good for Adam to have a companion like himself. As a result, God created Eve as a helpmate to Adam. He created Adam & Eve and gave them the mandate to be fruitful and multiply.
Abraham just like Adam was also blessed with much, but there was one thing he lacked. Abraham had no children! It was part of God’s design for a married couple to have children. Additionally, God had already spoken to Abraham in Genesis 12 telling him that He was going to make Abraham a great nation, but after all this time, Abraham still had no children! How was he going to be a great nation if he couldn’t even have one child!? This caused Abraham to have a question about God’s blessing. He wanted to know if having His own children was part of God’s reward to Him. He was looking for a clarification of God’s promise.
Have you ever felt barren in certain areas of your life? Did you used to get excited years ago when you read the scriptures or someone prophesied over you? Has waiting on those promises taken your excitement away? Does it cause you to have more questions rather than excitement? This is where Abraham was.
Abraham asked God to be more specific. He asked the Lord,
… “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
Have you asked the Lord to be more specific with His promises towards you? Pray and ask the Lord to clarify His word to you. This could be an important time to get clarity, so you won’t feel stuck anymore.
I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.
