12TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can.

Imagine you’re outside on a sunny day. If you looked up at the sky, would you see any stars other than the sun? It would be impossible. You probably saw them the night before, so you know they exist. It’s the bright daylight that makes it hard to see them, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there.

You might be surprised to know that when God told Abram to go outside and look up to count the stars, it was not night. Later, as Abram makes his offering and God makes a covenant with him, the passage mentions that “the sun was about to set” (Genesis 15:12). So God was asking Abram to look into the bright midday sky and count the stars!

And Abram did. He looked up and believed that God would give him descendants as numerous as those “invisible” stars. He understood that even though things might not look too promising for him and his wife, Sarai, to have children, God could do what looked impossible. The Lord had been faithful to him in the past, and if he promised, he would make it happen, no matter what Abram could foresee.

That’s why when Abram put his faith in the Lord, God “credited it to him as an act of righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). He had to grapple with his faith. He had to gaze into the noontime sky with eyes of faith and believe that the stars were still there.

Sometimes, exercising your faith can feel like trying to count stars on a sunny day. You try to trust in the Lord, but you can’t see how things will work out. That’s the time to remember that the stars are still there even when the sun is shining. Remember that God is constant even when your experience changes. Remember that you are his child and he loves you. Remember that he is with you and wants you to be with him eternally.

Today, your circumstances might overpower you like broad daylight hiding the stars. What are those truths that you need to remember, those “stars” you need to believe are still there? Let Abram be your example, and start counting.

“Lord, help me to believe even when I struggle to see.”

Psalm 105:1-4, 6-9
Matthew 7:15-20
Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18

WORD AMONG US