Genesis 13:14-18
The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.”So Abram went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he pitched his tents. There he built an altar to the Lord.
This is another one worth another look. This whole paragraph is all about a bigger God. That was a lifelong struggle for Abram and Sarai. First of all, He’s always a bigger God. That’s just the basic math of the whole thing. He’s more than we think. He’s bigger than we know. There’s more of Him and to Him than we can grasp. So we don’t have to knock Abram or Sarai for not getting it. They are not the villains in the story. They are the role models. They are the average Joe’s and Joanne’s.
Every time someone in the Scriptures (or a group of someones) builds a box around God or tries to package it all up, the Lord obliterates the box. That’s lesson one. He. Is. Bigger.
God reminds us of this constantly. Yet we still manage to not fully grasp it.
The promise goes from north to south and east to west. Everything that Abram can see. All that he can perceive. From the edge of every horizon to the edge of every other horizon. Every moment in time. Every inch of his life. The story that comes next can’t even be counted. Not even the volume of all the dust of the earth comes close. (And that’s a lot.) That’s how big the promise is. And the God that promises it is even bigger. Is even more.
This isn’t about acreage. Nor is it about dust. This moment, this conversation, this revelation is about inviting Abram into a bigger way of thinking. It’s about offering Abram a relationship that knows NO bounds. It can’t be measured. It can’t be counted. It can’t be contained.
Remember that Abram’s a talker. He chats God’s ear (?) off a number of times throughout the story. There are full conversations between them. He debates with the creator of the universe and for all intents and purposes seems to talk the Lord down. There’s no shortage of chit-chat in their relationship. So there’s something to be said for the immensity of his realization when he says nothing. His response is to set up his home and build an altar. There’s no last word, just worship.
That’s all you can do when you meet a bigger God.
Reflect:
On the verses. On the moments in your life of immense revelation of who God is.
Journal:
About a time that put God in a box and about what happened after that. About what you learned.
Pray:
For yourself and the realization(s) that maybe you’re still trying to limit God in some way. Pray to meet the Lord again. Repent if necessary. Meet the God that knows NO bounds. And worship.