Faith in the Gap: Abram's Vulnerability and God's Faithfulness

Introduction

Serena Williams (Tennis): Despite being one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Serena Williams has admitted to feeling like she's not good enough. In a 2018 interview with Harper's Bazaar UK, she said, "There's a lot of days I feel like I'm not good enough, that I'm not worthy of all these blessings."

Michael Phelps (Swimming): The most decorated Olympian of all time has been open about his struggles with mental health and self-doubt. In his documentary "The Weight of Gold," Phelps revealed that he often questioned his abilities and worth, even at the height of his career.

Tom Brady (American Football): Despite winning multiple Super Bowls, Brady has expressed feelings of inadequacy. In a 2018 interview, he said, "I still feel like I'm in high school, trying to find my way. I'm still trying to figure it all out."

Michelle Kwan (Figure Skating): The Olympic medalist and five-time world champion has spoken about experiencing imposter syndrome. In a 2019 interview, she said, "Even after I won my first world title, I felt like an impostor... I kept thinking, 'I'm not supposed to be here.'"

Maya Angelou, the renowned poet and author, once said, "I have written eleven books, but each time I think, 'Uh oh, they're going to find out now. I've run a game on everybody, and they're going to find me out.'"

The feeling of inadequacy is real. Often times it has its root in unbelief. Maybe it’s unbelief about who God is, or about who we are, or even unbelief in who we are in light of who God is. While our feelings are subjective, they come and go, we can give praise to God that He remains the same today, as He was yesterday, as He will be tomorrow.

Psalm 119:89–91 “Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures. Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you.”

We see another example of God’s great love and faithfulness to Abram in this chapter. I hope and think we’ll identify well with what happens here, and hopefully be encouraged by the end our time together.

If you have your Bibles or on your devices, you can turn to Genesis 15. If you are willing and able would you stand with me as I read God’s word this morning… this is the word of the Lord… let us pray… amen… you may be seated.

Great Reward

Abram afraid

We see a vulnerability in Abram. Despite surviving a famine, escaping from the Pharaoh of Egypt with more than he started (Gen 12), and routing four kings to rescue Lot and the people from the Jordan plain (Gen 14), he's still wrapped in fear. We know there is still fear present because God meets him and says, "Do not be afraid, for I am your shield and your very great reward."

I think this is a very real feeling and something many of us have experienced (or are experiencing). Yes, God has been faithful. We may be very accomplished and have things to show for it. We may even be respected in the eyes of many, but there is a deep visceral reality of our insufficiency and limitations.

Some have experienced this and have termed it “imposter syndrome”. Where the thoughts come in our head, “How long will it take before people start to realize I don’t belong here?”; “If they knew who I really was they wouldn’t want me here.” We know who we are, we are acutely aware of our flaws and inability.

We don’t know the timeframe between Genesis 14 and 15, but there is a real sense of fear and uncertainty.

God will protect (trials up to this point… getting older… making enemies)

God has protected him up to this point.

Genesis 14:20 “And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.”

Genesis 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.””

God will provide (promise fulfilment, deep longing of his heart… God knows)

God is His great reward.

The text in Hebrew is אָנֹכִי֙ מָגֵ֣ן לָ֔ךְ שְׂכָרְךָ֖ הַרְבֵּ֥ה מְאֹֽד This is woodenly translated to “I am a shield to you, your reward shall be very great”… some of your translations may translate it this way. It is pretty ambiguous as sometimes Hebrew can be.

The NIV quotes God’s statement telling Abram that HE is his great reward.

Oh that we would love God for who He is and not only for what He can do for us. It is a gross feeling to only be desired for what you can bring, for when you can’t bring that “thing” anymore, often times we can be disregarded. Used. Empty. Feeling worthless. Or in that God doesn’t do we what we want Him to do… then He becomes our puppet, if God doesn’t help me, then I don’t need Him. Oh that we would love God and see Him for who He is, more than what He can do for us.

I love this new song we are singing today, “Daily Bread”. It’s a few lines that I particularly love and resonate with me…

“You are our daily bread, You are our daily bread And we will seek Your face before we seek Your hand You are our daily bread, You are our daily bread And we desire You before the Promised Land”

“And we will seek Your face before we seek Your hand”

Exodus 33:15 “Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.”

Psalm 63:1–3 “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.”

John 6:25–29 “When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.””

Abram believes (not perfect) and God counts it as righteousness.

We see it unfold starting in vs2… “I’m childless… I just have Eliezer (God is my helper).” I don’t have an heir but one who can step in… But God promises there will be a child of his own flesh and blood. To this ANE people, this everything. Children mean life. But God I haven’t seen it… God says it’s coming.

Genesis 15:6 “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”

This is one of the foundational verses in the Bible. Many ask, if Jesus is so central to salvation, how did people who never heard of Jesus saved?

If we are taking the Bible as it presents itself, we see that belief towards God and what He says, it’s what God finds precious and desirable. We can not derive a perfect doctrine of salvation (or soteriology) from this text, but what we do see is that God spoke, Abraham believed God (no matter how imperfectly) and God was pleased.

It’s worth to make mention again here for our cultural moment. This is not an intellectual ascent into believing God… it is a whole person, life altering, aligning our entire being in this Earth with who He is and what He’s asked me to do.

How Do I Know

God is gracious and kind in his unbelief

God says he’ll take the land… this man who has been living as an expatriate in this land will one day take possession of it… or at least his descendants will.

Abram is vulnerable and he makes himself vulnerable to the Lord

Abram wants a sign. “How can I know…” What powerful, vulnerable, and sincere words spoken by Abram.

May this be one of those places in our Bible where we see the heart of God on full display Exodus 34:6 “And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness…”

Psalm 103:11–14 “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.”

God gives Him a sign so as to how He know it will be true. Sometimes we need those.

Let it be a scripture; Let it be a moment in our lives (a “sign” as we think of it); Find moments of confirmation, monuments of God’s faithfulness He’s good to us that way. Let it build your faith.

Something to Hold onto

God gives him a sign (a covenant… enters into a covenant)

The Lord gives him instruction as to what he’s to do next.

The ritual we see here is one of an agreement or a covenant. The purpose of this intense scene is where it would be tradition where there was no legal/court system in the way we think of it… in splitting the animals in two… the parties would meet in the middle of the carcasses and say, “If we don’t fulfill our obligation to the promise, may it be done to me as it is to these animals.”

Bases it on Himself (Abram has already demonstrated his incomplete obedience)

But grace upon grace… God enters into the middle alone testifying, it will be I Abram that will accomplish this. Thus, God undertakes a ritual that, in essence, says to Abram, “if I do not keep my promise, may I become like these animals.” Of course, God cannot die, but that is precisely the point, he cannot lie either.

Longman, T., III. (2016). Genesis (T. Longman III, Ed.; p. 204). Zondervan.

As a Hebrew wandering the desert hearing Moses say this, what comfort this brings… we will inherit the promise that was originally given to Abram. God has put Himself on the line, His reputation, His entire being to see this through. This brings comfort, relief, and a peace that He’ll accomplish it.

God gives this sign to Abram so that He is assured of God’s faithfulness

As Moses is walking in the wilderness, a pillar of flame guides them by night and a pillar of smoke by day. We see these same images here in Abram’s vision. God’s continual presence leading, guiding, protecting, and providing. It’s beautiful.

Our Sign: The New Covenant

We have this benefit of living past the Old Covenant and now are in the New Covenant. This New Covenant is in Jesus.

God is our shield and great reward

He is the reward, full stop. If we had nothing else save Jesus Himself, it would be enough. Oh God that you would make that true for us today. No relationship, no education, no amount of success/money, no amount of fame or notoriety has ever satisfied the human soul (the axiom: lonely at the top).

Sometimes we need to learn this the hard way. Church I’ve heard it said, and I’ve said it myself. I wise person learns from their mistakes… a wiser person learns from someone else’s mistakes. May we have eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to discern and be teachable in believing that if we have God we have everything.

He loves us dearly despite our incomplete obedience

There is nothing that God hasn’t already done that could prove more of His love for you. Even in our incomplete obedience He says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

I needed help the other day… I have the priveledge and grace to have my earthly father still with us. I needed help and I was a little embarrassed to ask him for it. Before I could even finish what I was saying, he stopped me and said, “No worries, I got this”. Not only was it another moment where it’s like, I want to be like that when I grow up… but Jesus’ words came to mind…

Matthew 7:11 “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

Has given us a new covenant in Jesus (the promise but also the sign… in the bread and cup)

Jesus has already done and given us a covenant, a sign of His great love and desire for us. He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God.

There is nothing that God has kept from us, that we might know Him. Us who were a far off He has brought near through the life, death, resurrection, ascension, and inevitable return of Jesus.

The cup, the bread… that’s what these are tangible reminders.

Abram asked, “How will I know”… you might ask that same question… “How do I know”… you only need to look at the bread and the cup. His life for you… His blood shed for you… you are more deeply loved than you can possibly know.

And that love says I want you to have life, and life abundant. Here’s the way, walk in it. I know you won’t always have the power to do it yourself, so I’m giving you my Spirit to dwell in you, to come upon you, to strengthen, lead, empower, you to love the way I do.

If you have not recieved this great love of God for you, today is the day of salvation. Allow Him to rescue you from sin, from death, and allow Him to take the judgement of your sin upon Himself. Turn from that way of being and turn to a knew way to be.

Conclusion

As we close, let's remember Abram's journey - a man of great faith who still struggled with fear and doubt. Like Abram, we may face moments of uncertainty, even after experiencing God's faithfulness. But God meets us in our vulnerability, just as He met Abram. He offers Himself as our shield and our very great reward. Today, we have an even greater assurance than Abram did - we have Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of God's covenant promises. In the bread and the cup, we have tangible reminders of God's unwavering love and commitment to us. So, whether you're feeling like an imposter, wrestling with doubt, or seeking assurance, remember: God sees you, He loves you, and He is faithful to His promises. May we, like Abram, choose to believe God, even when we can't see the full picture. And may we find our ultimate satisfaction not in what God can do for us, but in who He is - our shield, our very great reward, our loving Father who says, "I've got this." Let's go forth in that confidence, seeking His face before His hand, desiring Him above all else.