Count on It

Genesis is the book of beginnings and it’s where I am reading right now. Lately on this blog, I have been writing, journaling my adventure with an Interactive Bible Series in Genesis. What you see here is a compilation of my notes as I read. I’m not a scholar, just a gal who loves God and wants to dig deeper in His Word, comparing Scripture with Scripture.

Some of the notes and thoughts in this series are my own, some have come from being under the direction of a great dad who just happens to be a pastor at a church and a Bible teacher at a seminary and most importantly is a man who reads and studies the Word diligently. What a great example and teacher he is to me and my family!

So, if you’re interested in seeing how God is interested and active in our lives, let’s continue on this Genesis journey through chapters 12-16 (fair warning: this is a long post, you might need the weekend to read it – or just come back to it when you have time - lol!) and take a look at another name you might recognize: Abram.

Counting down the family line, we discover that Abram is in the line of Shem, (remember Shem was one of Noah’s three sons). Abram’s father’s name was Terah. Abram also had two brothers named Nahor and Haran. Now Abram’s brother Haran died fairly young, at least before Terah his father died and it would seem that Uncle Abram took his nephew Lot, Haran’s son, under wing.

Whew, wee, whew - much happens in Genesis chapters 12-16. The Lord talks with Abram and makes some pretty dramatic promises to a old guy who is married but doesn’t have any children yet. And then the Lord actually appears to Abram. Isn’t that cool? There God is again directly interacting in peoples’ lives. Haven’t we seen that right from the start with Adam and Eve? God is not a distant cosmic being who set the world into motion and then leaves us to fend for ourselves. He is very near to those who call on His name. You can count on it!

And there I believe is the key to God being close in our lives. Maybe there’s times we feel God is distant. Could it be because we have pulled away from God? God never leaves us when we truly know Him as our personal Savior, but sometimes we walk off on our own thinking we know what God wants when in reality it is what we want. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways, My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8,9

When the Lord appears to Abram, God tells him to get out of his country and away from his family, to a land that God will show him. God was going to do something special in Abram’s life. God said, I will make you a great nation, I will bless you and make your name great, I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.” This was the work that God was going to do, not Abram. God just wanted Abram to get up and get going to a land that God would show Abram. Abram didn’t know where that would be or how long it would take, but God did and that was enough.

So, what did Abram do? He obeyed God. Now the journey wasn’t without a few bumps. There was a famine and good old Abram took things into his own hands and out of fear made a mess in Egypt. But God did not abandon Abram. Then Abram has to rescue his nephew Lot who decided he was going to dwell near the city of Sodom. We’ll see more on what happens with Lot and his family in that wicked city, some nutty, crazy stuff - yikes!

The Lord comes to Abram again and confirms his promise. He tells Abram not to be afraid, that I am your shield and your exceedingly great reward. Then Abram says, “Lord God what will you give me, seeing I go childless?” Then God takes Abram outside for an object lesson and says, “Look now toward heaven and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And God said, “So shall your descendants be.”

Abram believed in the LORD, and the LORD counted it to him for righteousness. Plain and simple.

Do we believe the Lord when the way seems impossible? When the path is unclear, do we say to God, “I believe you LORD, that you will guide me and show me the way?”

Well, Abram believed the Lord, but just like a child waiting for Christmas morning, he got impatient. Abram and his wife Sarai decide to take things into their own hands. They decide that God is taking too long to fulfill His promise to give them a son. So they thought they would help God along. Enter Hagar, Sarai’s maid and now Abram has a son named Ishmael with someone other than his wife Sarai.

What a mess! Jealously, anger, hurt. This wasn’t God’s plan. You can look at the result of Abram’s disobedience until this day with the problems with Ishmael’s wild child descendants (yes, God calls Ishamael a wild man whose hand will be against everyone), the modern day Arabs.

So what is God driving home to me so far in my Bible reading in Genesis?

First, call on the Lord. Talk to Him. He is listening and He cares. He is active in our lives.

Next, obey God when he tells you to do something. Listen to his Word, the Bible. If we walk outside of His guidelines in life and in marriage, we can make a big mess for us and others.

But God can even redeem our mistakes. God’s good at making good! It’s His speciality. Everything God makes is good, remember what God said during those six days of creation?

And last but not least, wait on God’s timing. Don’t take things into our own hands. How do we do that? How do we know when to act, or not? What to do? Where to go? Well, one way is pretty clear, if what we choose to do is clearly outside of God’s will, ie: the principles and guidelines of his Word, then don’t do it. That’s a pretty safe rule of thumb.

I recently found a great little blog called Always Searching, Always Growing. In her sidebar she has a quote that reads like this: "Whatever weakens your reason, whatever impairs the tenderness of your conscience, whatever obscures your sense of God, whatever increases the authority of your body over your mind, whatever takes away from your relish for spiritual things, that to you is sin, no matter how innocent it is in itself." It is from Susanna Wesley to her son, John.

Do you and I believe God? Is God enough of a reward or are we seeking more? Don’t. God is enough and He will meet all our needs. What we need might be different than what we THINK we need.

Now, don’t go getting worried or become afraid. Hey, I’m good at that – lol! So I’m saying this for you as well as for me. Remember what God told Abram? I am your shield and your exceedingly great reward!

So here's today Interactive Bible Series Question: In what way has God become your shield and your exceedingly great reward?

Are you ready to live the adventure? Let’s go! We can count on God because He is trustworthy. There will be more on Abram soon and the son that God promised. I can’t wait to see what God has in store!