Genesis 15:1-6, 12-18 (NRSV)
Read Genesis 15:1-6, 12-18 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 15After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great."
Verse 2But Abram said, "O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" Verse 3And Abram said, "You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir." Verse 4But the word of the Lord came to him, "This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir." Verse 5He brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your descendants be." Verse 6And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.
Verse 12As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him. Verse 13Then the Lord said to Abram, "Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs, and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years; Verse 14but I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. Verse 15As for yourself, you shall go to your ancestors in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. Verse 16And they shall come back here in the fourth generation; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete."
Verse 17When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. Verse 18On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,
Devotion
How do you feel when things are difficult and someone says, "Don't be afraid?" We might feel as if our suffering is not being taken seriously. When God said to Abram, "Do not be afraid," Abram did not believe God. When we are afraid, God says to us, too, that we need not fear. But God can comfort us as no one else can. We know, even in the midst of our fear, God is present. The holy and living God walks with us, offering comfort, love and hope. With this God, as with no one else, we can trust that fear will not overcome us.
Prayer
Your living presence sustains us, O God, in all things, even in our fear. Amen.