Count the Stars

"Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness."
Genesis 15:6 (NIV)

Here's a question that I often ask people as I disciple them: Do you believe in God, or do you actually believe God?

There's a difference. And a significant one.

Abraham knows it firsthand. He's following God broadly, and trusting Him in a general way. But when the promise still hasn't arrived, Abraham points to his empty house and asks how any of of God’s promises of a legacy and family can still come to pass. He believes in God. He's just not sure he believes God.

So God takes him outside and says, "Look up. Count the stars, if you can." Abraham stares into an endless sky and feels something change. The God who scattered those stars across the universe makes a promise: Your family will be just like that.

And Abraham believes. Not halfway. Not "We'll see." He takes God at His word.

What follows is the John 3:16 of the Old Testament: "Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness" (Genesis 15:6, NIV). Abraham wasn't saved by making a promise to God. He was saved by believing the promise God made to him.

Today, pick one promise you've been agreeing with in your head but not actually living. Maybe you know God promises to provide, but your grip on your finances tells a different story. Your fear of not having enough feels louder than the God who owns everything. 

Or maybe you know He holds your children, but you're still lying awake running through every worst-case scenario, carrying a worry that was never yours to carry in the first place.

Write it on a notecard, put it somewhere you'll see it, and every time doubt rises up, read it out loud. That's what believing God actually looks like.

Prayer: Lord, I believe in You, but I want to actually believe You. Help me stop treating Your promises like they apply to everyone except me. And walk in true peace and Your steadfast love. I'm choosing to take You at Your word today. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.