Genesis: The Blessing of God
“I will surely bless you
and make your descendants as numerous
as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.”
Genesis 22:17
Childlessness is tough. Most take for granted that they will be able to have children and as many as they want. In fact, great effort is expended by many in trying to prevent having children! Childless couples have a hard time understanding and accepting this. They face just the opposite. The prospect of growing old without children can be depressingly lonely.
Abram and Sarai faced such a future. For years they had tried unsuccessfully to have even one child. The lunar deity of Ur had not helped their cause, although she was a fertility goddess, moving in monthly cycles. When the one true God revealed himself to Abram and his promise of offspring, it was still a challenge for Abram and Sarai to believe.
We want to believe in miracles. We want to believe that the blessing of God might be seen by us in real live “children”. Why then is it so difficult? Precisely because it is a miracle. Trust God! Miracles happen! Abram’s one son had two sons, and one of them had 12, and the multiplication had begun! Trust God!
© 2004 Donald D. Reigstad