The promises of God
by Pastor Tim Castle-Schmidt
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Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward (Genesis 15:1).
I sometimes wonder what God has promised me. Despite my many blessings, the aftermath of 2020 leaves me questioning just what we can rely upon in the future. After significant turmoil and change, it is hard to imagine just what the ‘new normal’ might look like. And yet, I know without a doubt that God has promised to be my shield. This, indeed, was Abram’s (Abraham’s) struggle. The Lord promises to be Abraham’s shield, his reward (verse 1), and yet Abraham questions how this could be true when he has no heir (verses 2,3). But the Lord reiterates his promises with enormous extravagance: ‘Look up at the sky and count the stars – if indeed you can count them’. Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be’ (verse 5).
Here we have a sharp exchange in which Abraham stands face to face with God and seeks to refute the promise and resist the assurance. Clearly, the faith to which Abraham is called is not a peaceful, pious acceptance. It is a hard-fought and deeply argued conviction.
The Lord leads Abraham through the depths to teach him to live by faith. Abraham and Sarah are called to live their lives despite their barrenness.
We have no promise that the barrenness we may have experienced last year will turn to extravagance, but that it can teach us to live by faith! This does not, on the surface, make sense; and yet it is a key insight of biblical faith. It’s as if this ‘gift’ from God draws hope out from within us as blood is drawn out through a needle – not easily or painlessly. But the end result is a new hope, a renewed understanding of hope, which runs freely like the blood into the syringe.
So, what has God promised me, us? That he is our reward and he will remain with us in this journey of life forever.
Heavenly Father, draw hope out of us when life seems hopeless. Meet us when we need you and help us hear your words of comfort spoken to us. Amen.
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