Read time 5:48
“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.” Genesis 15:1
Now we do not know how long it had been since this war occurred. All we read is, “After these things...” We can safely say some time had passed, because this convention of language is used frequently in scripture.
So, after some time had passed Abram may have thought, in a moment of humanity and contemplation after finally settling down in the plains, “Is this how I’m going to have to live going forward, lying about my wife, putting her in danger of being made a captive of another king or pharaoh or potentate. Am I destined to be continually having to divide up my family to keep the peace and keep separating from one another, then having to go to war to rescue my nephew and his family from these ungodly people around here? Maybe, I need to stop right now and regroup. Maybe I missed God and now I’m tangled up in something I have no idea how to get out of or resolve. Everything sounded fine at first but, now after all that’s happened, I’m not so sure.” Now, there is no record that any such conversation or contemplation every happened. We only know Abram as a man of faith, even great faith.
Whatever he may have been contemplating at this time God comes to him, his chosen man, in a vision with words of comfort and assurance. “Do not be afraid, Abram!”
“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.” Genesis 15:1
Yes, he had experienced some challenges, but he had also seen great victories and he had seen great visions, maybe too amazing to comprehend, but God still knew that he was a man, frail and subject to fear and all the doubt and torment that comes with it.
So, before He delivers another message of amazing blessing to come, He says to Abram, “Do bot be afraid…!”
Sometimes, even the contemplation of the promises of God can leave us bewildered. “It just sounds too good to be true,” we might think, because of the overwhelming dimensions of the promises of God and that reality that our broken humanity is so entrenched in our limited human thinking we can be afraid at the thought of what God is calling us to do or say or to trust Him to provide. Let me say that another way. It is quite natural for us to be tempted to fear, and even doubt when we think about the full implication of the promises of God for us. They are amazing! And fear lurks just outside the door to seize the moment to add fuel to our fears.
But, thanks be to God, the Holy Spirit in us speaks to our hearts the truth of the Word of God and the surety of His promises that He will never, Never, NEVER, NO NEVER FAIL US. The promises of God and the realization of them in our lives are not too great for us to comprehend. They are not too great for us to believe, to confess and to receive, because we have the mind of Christ. If His promises were too great for us to know and to comprehend and receive, He would not have promised them to us. [John 14:2]
God Loves you! He loves you personally, passionately, intensely, sos much so that there is nothing He will withhold from you of all of His Kingdom. He wants you to experience all that is good and true and beautiful in His creation. Above all things He wants you to be free indeed.
If then, no matter how overwhelmingly good the promises of God may seem to us, God does not promise things the way a politician might do, just to convince us to “vote for him.” God does not promise us things just to impress us. He has nothing to prove to us. He proved His love for us once and for all in the life, in the suffering, in the death and in the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord. What He has promised He will not fail to fulfill. We can absolutely trust Him and trust His Word.
“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:32
Part 5 – conclusion next