2023 Daily Lenten Journey – Day 30

We live in a harsh world filled with crime, war, and poverty. Violence rips through our neighborhoods sparing not even little children attending school. It can be difficult to remain faithful that God will ‘make everything ok’ in the end. He has a plan for our salvation, but between now that then, things can get a little dicey.

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”  But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”  And Abram said, “Behold, thou hast given me no offspring; and a slave born in my house will be my heir.”  And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; your own son shall be your heir.”  And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”  And he believed the LORD; and he reckoned it to him as righteousness.  And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.”  But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”  He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a she-goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”  And he brought him all these, cut them in two, and laid each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.  And when birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away.  As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram; and lo, a dread and great darkness fell upon him.  Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know of a surety that your descendants will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and will be slaves there, and they will be oppressed for four hundred years; but I will bring judgment on the nation which they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.  As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age.

Genesis 15.1-15

No sooner than God made His promise to Abram, and Abram began to doubt. He was old and without an heir. How could God give Abram so many descendants if he had no children to begin? Again, God assured Abram that his descendants would be like the stars of heaven. Again, Abram believed. With that belief comes fear of the unknown.

God also told Abram that his descendants would be slaves for four hundred years. I guess being the promised descendants of God doesn’t mean a life without struggle. That is something to remember for us today. Just because God promises we will be ‘ok in the end,’ doesn’t mean we won’t struggle before we get there.

I have to admit, being Greek, that I always hear about the four hundred slavery and think of my Greek ancestors. The Church has also suffered, despite God’s promise that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I guess there is a patter to those who follow God’s way.

Remember! We are focusing on Genesis to be aware of where it all started. It was the devil that tricked Adam and Eve. It was the devil that entered Cain’s heart. It was the devil that stirred the people into evil that brought about the flood. It is still the devil that works against us every day. We just need to remain focused. God is on our side, and He will win. God always wins.