Genesis 15
I’ve been asked where the title for our series on Abraham, Count the Stars, came from. It’s actually a command that God gave to Abram. However, you need the backstory to really understand the significance for Abram… and for us.
We all know that there are seasons in life where it feels like nothing is happening. Our prayers seem to go unanswered. God’s promises feel like they’re going to be eternally delayed. And it’s in those moments that hope slowly gives way to frustration. That’s where Abram finds himself in Genesis 15.
God had promised to make him into a great nation, but years had passed, and Sarai was still unable to have children. At their age, it didn’t just feel unlikely… it felt impossible. The window had closed.
And Abram is honest about it. He asks, “Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless?” (Gen. 15:2). You can hear the ache and pain in his voice. God had blessed him in so many ways, but Abram couldn’t see past the one thing God hadn’t done. Isn’t that true for us, too? We fixate on what’s missing and forget what’s been given. We measure God’s faithfulness by the one unanswered prayer.
So what does God do? He invites Abram outside. “The Lord took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them… so shall your offspring be.’” (Gen. 15:5) Don’t miss this moment. Abram moves from inside, where he had been staring at the eight-foot ceiling of his woven goat-hair tent, to standing under an infinite sky. And with that simple shift, everything changes.
God is saying, “You’re putting limits on what I can do. You’re letting your circumstances define my possibilities.” Inside the tent, Abram’s vision was small. Outside, his perspective expands. The sky becomes a reminder: It’s never too late, never too little, never too far gone for God.
Sometimes what we need most isn’t a new answer, it’s a new vantage point. God often meets people outside the routines and confines of their everyday lives. Moses in the wilderness. David is in the hills. Elijah is in a cave. Jesus in the desert. Again and again, God draws people out so they can see more clearly. Maybe that’s an invitation for you today. If your world has started to feel small… if your prayers feel stuck… if your faith feels boxed in, it might be time for a “two-foot field trip.” Step outside. Look up and breathe… and let creation remind you of what your circumstances have made you forget: God is bigger than your limitations. His promises are not bound by your timeline.
Abram looked up at the stars, and something shifted. Not in his circumstances, but in his heart. And that, my friends, is where faith begins again.
Ryan Paulson
Lead Pastor