As I look at my kiddos, I often wonder about their future. I think that’s normal for most parents. We want the best for our kiddos, we try to train them as best we know how, and we try to set them up for success so they can flourish in life. And we emphasize God at every turn.
I remember as a teenager that I had no plan and no clue. Not what I really want for my kiddos. My solution for the unknowns of the future was just to figure it out once I got there. Scripture tells us that if we don’t have a plan, we’re going to suffer (Proverbs 29:18). There have certainly been times in my life that I didn’t have a plan, and I certainly suffered for it.
Since the idea of making plans started running through my mind, I couldn’t help but think of Abraham. Did he have a plan? In Genesis 12:1, we read that God told Abram (name not changed yet) to leave what he knew, and to go to where God would show him. Um, God? That’s kind of vague… would You mind giving me a little more information?
Y’all… Abram was 75 years old. He had a wife, he had possessions, he had people serving in his household… and God told him to leave there to go somewhere else without giving him specifics. To a land that I will show you…
Reading through many of the stories of the Bible, there is one common theme that is glaringly obvious: my trust issues run real deep. How would I respond to that kind of direction? If God were to tell me, clear as day, to leave my home and to go somewhere He would eventually show me… I hate to say it, but I don’t think I would be too keen on going.
Give me some information on this destination… are there any popular landmarks? What is there to do there? What’s the cost of living? What are their tax laws? What’s the crime rate? What are the schools like? Do they get earthquakes? Is it by a volcano? Are there a lot of tornados or hurricanes? Just scratching the surface for the questions I would have.
I might relax a bit, though, if I received the same promises that God gave to Abram…
“I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:2-3 NLT
Those are pretty hefty promises, aren’t they? And the only response from Abram that’s recorded is that he packed up his entire household (possessions and peoples) and left his hometown. Over the years, he experiences immense prosperity, severe famine in the land, warring kings causing trouble, and an impressive rescue mission. His household just kept growing and growing (Genesis 12-14). But something was missing.
In the words of yours truly, God tells Abram, don’t you worry about a thing – I got your back and I’m going to bless your socks off (Genesis 15:1). But Abram, tells God – again, in my own words – there’s no point if I’m leaving it to all to a servant. The only way You can bless my socks off, God, is to give me a child from my own body. That’s pretty bold. It makes my questions look like nothing.
And God responds boldly… in my own words of course.
Look at the stars and just try to count them – I alone know how many there are… that’s how many will be in your family tree (Genesis 15:4-5).
And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith. Genesis 15:6 NLT
You might recall from previous posts that I enjoy words. This verse is a pivotal one in the Christian faith. Abram believed God and was considered righteous! That’s huge! So, I decided to look a little more closely at the word believe.
The Hebrew word we get believed from is the verb ʼâman (Strong’s H539). It’s pronounced like aw-mawn. The word ʼâman means to trust, believe, to have assurance, to lean on something trustworthy, to place your weight there, and to be confirmed. But take a look at the Greek equivalent.
The Greek equivalent is the word pistós (Strong’s G4103) and literally means the same thing plus another significant definition. From Thayer’s New Testament definition, it also means one who is convinced that Jesus has been raised from the dead and is the Messiah and author of salvation (Study Light Resource). And to think that this exchange between Abram and God came right after Abram’s encounter with Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High (Genesis 14:18-20). I’ll leave that for another day.
Genesis 15:6 is the first recorded occurrence in scripture of the word ʼâman being spoken. It conveys that Abram trusted God even if he couldn’t see it. Even though he didn’t see the baby, he trusted God to provide. He didn’t know how it would all work (He did know how it works, but he obviously didn’t know all the details – he tried to use Hagar to produce an heir instead of his own wife), but he believed God.
Earlier, in Genesis 12, Abram trusted God even though he had no specifics of his destination. He just decided to pack everything up (and everyone) and go no matter the crime rate or cost of living. There were probably questions – maybe a little different than mine. There were probably some doubts softly whispering about. But Abram acted on faith.
Abram didn’t know all the details of the plan, but he expressed that he trusted the One who did. Even though he couldn’t see his wife giving him a child, he trusted the One who made the promise. He didn’t get caught up in the details that would burden him with unnecessary worry. He simply believed that God had a good plan.
Interesting that the same word we get believed from (ʼâman) has amen at its root (Strong’s H543 – ʼâmên).
Sometimes the place God is leading us to is too much for us to comprehend. His promises seem too grand, it’s beyond our ability to see, and we might feel fear creep in if we know all the details of what we’ll encounter. No matter how many trust issues I have, I want to say without any doubt, amen.
Let your whispered amen boldly proclaim that you trust the One who is calling you. Let it be the action of handing over all of the details – all of the details you’re unaware of, all of the questions that you have bubbling up – your amen hands it all over to the only One who is able to carry it.