Counting Stars In An Empty Sky By Michael YoussefSýnishorn

Day One

Where Is God?

Scripture: Genesis 15:5

What is God’s plan for my life? Why doesn’t He answer my prayers? Why does He delay, month after month, year after year? Should I continue to trust Him? 

If you have had any of these thoughts, you will identify with the story of Abraham. Abraham was a man of faith. He was also a flawed man, just as you and I are flawed human beings. He sinned, he disobeyed, he tried to force God’s hand—with disastrous results. Yet despite Abraham’s sins and imperfections, he was called “the friend of God” (James 2:23). 

The pivotal moment in the story of Abraham—and the key insight for our lives—is found in Genesis 15:5, our Scripture verse for today.

When God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans and promised to make of him a great nation, Abraham was seventy years old, his wife was sixty, and they were childless. Fifteen years later, when Abraham was eighty-five, God renewed His promise to Abraham and told him that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars in the night sky. God invited Abraham to count the stars. Those stars not only symbolized Abraham’s descendants—they were also emblems of God’s promises and Abraham’s faith. 

In years to come, Abraham would go through times of darkness, times when there were no stars to be seen. He would wonder, Has God abandoned me? Will He still keep His promise? What is His plan for my life? Why doesn’t He answer my prayer? 

Abraham would not give up on God, even though he had to wait for thirty years—past his hundredth birthday— for God to give him a son, the first of those “stars” God had promised him. 

Despite his discouragement and the dreariness of those childless years, Abraham continued to look skyward. He continued to count stars—even when there were no stars to be seen. What can Abraham’s faith teach us today as we look beyond our circumstances to the certainty of God’s promises?

Father, when I look at my circumstances it’s hard to believe your promises. Help me to trust that you will bring the light of stars, even though the sky is now empty. Amen.