Think about time for a moment. You and I know what happened yesterday. At least we think we do. I have to wonder how often we think we know what happened yesterday or last week or ten years ago, but we actually have the story wrong. So let’s say we sort of know what happened in our lives in the past.

We also know what’s happening now. We know what our needs are. We know the status of our relationships. We know how the current conversation is going. We see the condition of the world, how much money we have in the bank and how healthy, or not, we are. But once again, we don’t have the full or even correct picture.

We think we know how we’re being perceived by others, but often we don’t. If you’re married, how often have you made what seemed to you to be an innocent comment only to have it turn into a full blown argument with your spouse? Misunderstandings happen all the time. We think we know a lot more than we really do.

So we have some limited grasp on the past and on the present. What we don’t know is the future. We have no idea what will happen tomorrow or next week. We have our plans. We have our hopes. We have what we think is going to happen, but we can’t see into the future. It’s pretty much a mystery to us.

That’s never more evident than in Genesis 15 where God speaks to Abram (later he becomes Abraham) in a vision. He tells Abram, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.”

In Genesis 12, God had promised to make Abram into a great nation, but some time later, Abram and his wife Sarai (later she becomes Sarah) still have no children. So when God tells Abram to not be afraid and that He will protect and reward him, Abram does what any of us would do. He looks at the past. He looks at the present. And he replies to God with:

“O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.”

I was struck by the words “since” and “so.” Abram considers his past and his present situation and draws a logical conclusion. “Since you’ve given me no children…a servant…will inherit all my wealth…so one of my servants will be my heir.”

I do that all the time. I evaluate my circumstances and draw a wrong conclusion. God may have said one thing, but because I can’t see how it can be true, I believe something different. And that almost always leads to fear, worry or anxiety. Isn’t it interesting that the very first thing God says to Abram is, “Do not be afraid.”

What are you afraid of today? What’s worrying you? What circumstances or situations have you evaluated, analyzed and agonized over and still not figured out how to fix?

Here’s what we, or at least I, fail to remember: God is never limited by what has already happened or what is happening now. He is never limited by anything or anyone. There’s no situation too hard for Him. He sees what He will do tomorrow. And next week. And six months from now.

Then the Lord said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” 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!”

When God makes a promise, He not only has the ability to fulfill it, He already knows exactly how He will do it. He sees it as already done. There truly is no reason for us to worry. No reason to panic. No reason to become discouraged and quit. Like Abram, there’s really just one correct response:

And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.