The Big Picture
"Look up at the heavens and count the stars." Gen. 15:5

God had promised Abram and Sarai, "I will make you into a great nation" (Gen. 12:2). But it seemed hopeless in light of their barrenness and advancing age. So the Lord met Abram amid his doubts and renewed the promise: "... a son coming from your body will be your heir" (Gen. 15:4). The Lord didn't stop there, though. To show Abram the big picture, the grand scale of His global plan of salvation, the Lord "took him outside and said, 'Look up at the heavens and count the stars-if indeed you can count them.... So shall your offspring be" (Gen. 15:5).

How did Abram respond? "Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness" (Gen. 15:6). We cherish this verse, because it is the first time the Bible teaches that we are saved, not by our own deeds, but by God's grace through faith in Jesus.

I grew up where city lights often dimmed the stars, but when I attended college in rural Nebraska, I finally saw the Milky Way in all its glory. At the beginning of Genesis 15, Abram's faith was dimmed by his childlessness, but then God revealed His celestial object lesson and declared, "That is how many children and grandchildren you will have someday."

The Lord fulfilled this prophecy in the days of Paul the missionary, who called the Gentile converts in Philippi the "... children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life" (Phil. 2:15-16).

In the song "Sometimes by Step," Rich Mullins refers to Gen. 15:5 in this way,

"Sometimes I think of Abraham
How one star he saw had been lit for me"
(©1991, BMG Songs Inc.).

What an insight! Abram only knew stars as pinpricks of light in the canopy of heaven. Today we know stars as gigantic spheres of flaming gases suspended in galaxies light-years away. With the naked eye, Abram could see a couple of thousand stars, and their sparkling witness convinced him of God's intentions. We, today, have the Hubble telescope. We know there are billions of stars. This makes the Lord's lesson all the more compelling for us. God has lit stars for billions of people around the globe today, and for billions more who may be born before Christ returns.

Our Creator went to a great deal of trouble to provide us the beauty and navigational assistance of the stars, but He went to even greater pains to redeem you and me at the cross and to enlighten our darkened hearts with the Gospel. His suffering will certainly bear fruit-in our lives, and in the lives of countless others who will come to trust in Jesus.

When you feel like mission work is fruitless and hopeless, gaze at the stars. Each one has been lit for another brother or sister in Christ.

1. When has the mission work you are involved in seemed as fruitless as Abram and Sarai's attempts to have children? How did you feel about it?
2. Go to the children's section of your local library. Find a picture book about stars and also a picture book about the peoples of the world. As you meditate on the photos and on Gen. 15:5, ask God to help you grasp the big picture.

• Invite some mission-minded friends to meet outside beneath the stars for an hour of mission prayer.