Tuesday, August 5, 2025
Genesis 15:1-6 – 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 will You give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, You have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very 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 offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness.
It seems weird to me, that God would care that much about whether somebody trusts Him. I mean, He’s not asking for some great deed of daring—God’s not asking Abraham to jump over a cliff, or take on a lion barehanded. No, He’s only saying, “Trust Me. I will give you a family.” How hard is that?
And yet, we all know the answer—it’s very hard. Because when it comes to something that we care about deeply, we really want to have control over that thing in our own hands. Think of the people who quote, “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” That’s the true human attitude, ever since the Garden of Eden, where the devil managed to trick us with the line, “You will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Apparently trusting God to manage the universe wasn’t good enough. And look at the results in our world today!
But this man Abraham trusts God—and God is delighted. God “counts it to him as righteousness.” Abraham is called the friend of God, and for no other reason than because he trusted Him. You really have to ask yourself how rare it is for people to trust God, if God is so overjoyed when one of us finally does!
Jesus shows the same attitude. When Jesus offers to come to a man’s house to heal his servant, the man says, “You don’t need to come, just say the word and my servant will be healed”—and Jesus is delighted. “I tell you,” He says, “not even in Israel have I found such faith.” And of course the servant is healed.
Trust matters to God. In fact, it’s deeply tied up with how He saves us from sin and evil. Jesus did all the work—He became a human being, taught and healed and took care of people, suffered betrayal and torture and even death on a cross—and rose from the dead, three days later, as many witnesses can testify. And then He says to us, “Trust Me.” Trust Me, and you will be saved. Trust Me, and your sins are forgiven, and you will be children of God in heaven. Trust Me, and you will live forever.
WE PRAY: Dear Lord, with such a Savior as You, how can I not trust You? Let Your Holy Spirit build a strong faith in my heart and life. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions: