I must have read the story of Abraham a thousand times...but this time I saw something I had never seen before. Eight little words jumped out from the page and left me wondering how on earth I could have missed them before. Abram (or so he is called before he receives his new name) is standing in a foreign land, a place already occupied by others, trying to figure out what the future holds. He has just left Egypt, where he failed God miserably, and now has to contend with his selfish nephew, Lot, in a fight over sharing the land. It is here that God steps in to encourage Abram with these eight little words...
lift up your eyes from where you are.
And as Abram responds to that gentle command, he is rewarded with a tiny glimpse of what God has promised for the future. To the north, the south, the east, and the west, all that Abram can see will one day belong to his family.
Thousands of years have passed since that day. But God is still the same. Like Abraham, we walk with a promise maker. We talk with a promise keeper. And wherever we are right now, he gently commands us to lift up our eyes so that he can give us a glimpse of what the future holds. Be encouraged.
Love the story Glenys, we need the encouragement to lift up our eyes.
ReplyDeleteDavid