Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:
Genesis 15:1-6 (NIV)
The Lord’s Covenant With Abram
15 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:
“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” 2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” 4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
God promised Abram that he would be the father of a great nation. Abram relocated on God’s command. Now, as he looks around, Abram is trying to figure out how God’s going to pull this off as he has no children and is living in a land where he has no standing. Abram was a man of great faith and his faith was firmly founded on a God he had learned to trust. God says, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward”. (v.1) Abram believed. He still got it wrong on occasion and Abram tried to solve a few problems on his own, yet, in the end, Abram had come to see God as trustworthy. Today, I invite you to reflect on this same promise. Hear God speak, ‘Do not be afraid. I am your shield, your very great reward’. What does this promise mean to you, today?