¹Some time later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.” ²But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. ³You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.” ⁴Then the Lord said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” ⁵Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” ⁶And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.

Genesis 15:1-6

There is so much I love about this passage and what it teaches me about God. If I only read verses one and six, I get a picture of what could be considered perfect faith — God said it, Abram believed it. But it is verses two through five that make faith like Abram attainable.

Between God’s promise and Abram’s faith is doubt. Doubt that life will work out as God promised. Doubt that the blessing will actually be realized. Doubt because human eyes can’t see God’s provision. Doubt.. I understand doubt.

God’s response to Abram’s doubt is affirmation of the promise — look at the stars. That is a picture of your descendants from your own son. Abram needed reassurance; God provided it. And then, Abram believed.

Do you need reassurance today? Are you between hearing and believing, hanging out with doubt?

Ask.

And then believe!