Counting Stars in an Empty Sky

I believe there are several nuggets found in Counting Stars in An Empty Sky, by Michael Youssef, that we can learn from Abraham about trusting God’s promises for our impossibilities.

A Little Background 

Abraham was 70, his wife Sarah was 60, when God called him out of Ur. When Abraham left Harran for the Promised Land, he was 75. God promised Abraham his offspring would be as numerous as the stars. At the time, Abraham had no offspring.

One reason God told Abraham to leave Ur was to get him out of that center of idol worship. He told Abraham not to settle or compromise, but to get out of Ur.

Even though Abraham went through times when the sky was dark, no stars could be seen to count, and he had to wait 30 years after the promise for God to give him a son, Abraham never gave up on God.

Now for the nuggets I gathered from this book.

Nugget #1

God said he would show Abraham a land. (Genesis 12)

We must choose to walk with God to that land. If Abraham had chosen to go his own way, he would have nullified God’s promise to him.

Nugget #2

God said he would bless Abraham. (Genesis 12)

Abraham didn’t ask God to bless him. God blesses when we follow him.

Nugget #3

God told Abraham he would bless those who blessed Abraham, and curse those who cursed Abraham. (Genesis 12)

God promises to fight our battles for us. We should let him, because he does a better job at it than we do.

Nugget #4

When famine threatened, Abraham moved to Egypt. Even though God didn’t tell him to. He trusted himself instead of trusting God. (Genesis 12)

Each of our Egypts will be different from someone else’s. But whenever we place our trust in something other than in God, our intimacy with God begins to die.

Nugget #5

Michael Youssef says from looking at Abraham’s time in Egypt and the consequences of going there, we can see that there are six steps to Egypt.

1. We begin to rely only on human logic.
2. We cease to worship God.
3. We become pridefully self-sufficient.
4. Our unconfessed sin leads to more sin.
5. Our sin will result in terrible loss.
6. Our unconfessed sins bring humiliation.

Nugget #6

After Abraham rescued his nephew, Lot, from powerful foes, he was offered great treasure from the king of Sodom. Abraham refused. He knew his blessings came from God. (Genesis 14)

When you realize no one but God can provide for you, you cannot be insecure.

Nugget #7

After waiting years for the promise and it not being fulfilled, Abraham and Sarah took matters into their own hands instead of waiting on God’s timing. (Genesis 16)

When we stop trusting God’s promises, we are blaming God for our difficulties. In our desperation to change our circumstances, we sometimes do the worst things with the best intentions.

Nugget #8

When Sarah heard the Angel of the LORD say she would have a child within the year, she laughed. (Genesis 18)

It’s not a sin to doubt, but it can become a sin if we remain in our doubts to the point at which doubt hardens into unbelief, and unbelief produces sin.

Nugget #9

After God fulfilled his promise to give Abraham a child by Sarah, he tested him by instructing Abraham to sacrifice his son as an offering. Abraham set out to do just that in obedience. (Genesis 22)

How many times do we claim to love god, but only if it costs us nothing? We love but don’t want to surrender our idols to God.

Your Turn

Had Abraham turned the promised gift of his child, Isaac, into an idol? Was that why God chose to test him in such a way? Perhaps.

Child sacrifice certainly was not one of God’s demands. It was not in his character. In fact God called the practice an abomination.

In requesting the sacrifice of Abraham’s beloved son, which we remember God stopped by providing a ram for the sacrifice instead, God tested Abraham to see if Abraham loved God more than he loved Isaac.

Abraham was over 100 years old at this time. Isaac was between 15 and 30, so he was not a helpless child. He could have easily overpowered his father if he chose to. He didn’t.

In the story of Abraham we see he kept counting stars with eyes of faith regardless of his circumstances. When we count stars that we can’t see, just like Abraham, we are walking by faith, not by sight.

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Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” Genesis 15:5 NLT

I wish you well.

Sandy

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