Count the Stars

“Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” — Genesis 15:6

Abram had been living in the land of Canaan for a long time. God had blessed him. He had lots of sheep and cattle and silver and gold. But there was one thing Abram didn’t have. He and Sarai still had no children.

One night, God spoke to Abram in a vision. “Do not be afraid, Abram,” God said. “I am your shield, and your very great reward.”

But Abram was sad. “Lord God,” he said, “what can you give me? I still don’t have any children. When I die, everything I have will go to my servant Eliezer.”

“No,” God said. “That man will not be the one. You will have a son of your very own, and he will be the one.”

Then God took Abram outside, into the dark night.

Have you ever been somewhere really dark, far away from any towns or street lights, and looked up at the sky? There are stars everywhere. Thousands and thousands of them, big ones and tiny ones, so many that the sky looks dusty with them.

That is what Abram saw that night.

“Look up at the sky,” God said, “and count the stars, if you can.”

So Abram looked. One, two, three, four... But he could never count them all. Nobody could.

“That is how many children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren you will have,” God said.

Abram was an old man. Sarai was an old woman. They had waited and waited for a baby, and no baby had come. It seemed impossible.

But Abram looked up at all those stars, and he believed God.

That is a very short sentence in the Bible, but it is one of the most important ones. “Abram believed the LORD.” He trusted that God would do what He had promised, even when he couldn’t see how. And God was pleased with Abram’s faith. Because Abram trusted Him, God counted him as right with Him, as His friend.

That is still the way people become God’s friends today. Not by being good enough, but by trusting God, just as Abram did.

Looking ahead to Jesus: The Bible says, “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed” (Galatians 3:29). Everyone who trusts in Jesus becomes part of Abram’s family. So if you trust Jesus, you are one of those stars!

Read it in your Bible: Genesis 15:1–6

Dear God, thank you that you always keep your promises, even when they seem impossible. Help me to trust you like Abram did. Amen.