Who Can Blame Him?

Yesterday we saw clearly that Abram, like you and I, has a considerable ability to completely stuff things up. 

But a defining moment in his story comes in Genesis 15:1–6.

Abram is a man of faith but he’s struggling. He has tried everything, but he can’t make this promise from God – that Abram will be the father of a great nation – happen. So he starts coming up with his own plans. 

So, how does God respond? With rebuke, punishment, discipline? No, with a promise.

God brought him outside and said, “Look toward the heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then the Lord said to him, “So shall your descendants be!” 

And Abram believed the Lord and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:5–6).

Abram was just as human as you and me. He had human failures and made mistakes just like you and me. But who can blame him?

And how is it that, despite all of Abram’s blunders and doubts, God’s plan still came to fruition? 

Here’s the answer: because Abram “believed the Lord and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.” 

And when you and I believe in Jesus, God counts this unto us as righteousness. 

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). 

Do you see that? It’s not about what Abram could or couldn’t do; did or didn’t do. The defining moment in Abram’s journey is all about God’s grace! 

Even in the face of further doubt from Abram, God gives him this vision and he makes an unbreakable promise; a covenant; a promise from God Himself to Abram. 

God takes Abram’s mistakes and turns them into miracles. God takes Abram’s weaknesses, and breathes His promise and power and provision into them. 

Because when God has a plan, no mistake that you and I can make will cause Him to deviate. 

When our heart is to believe, the Lord our God will count that unto us as righteousness. He won’t just tolerate our weaknesses. He won’t just forgive our failures. He’ll compensate for them. 

He’ll turn our mistakes into miracles … 

“For the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

Life Application Questions

• Right now, now that you’ve seen firsthand the failures and weaknesses of this great man of faith, Abram, how are you reacting? How well do you relate to the way Abram behaved?
• Can you look back on some of your blunders in a different light? 
• Go back and read Genesis 15:1–6. Put yourself in Abram’s shoes. How do you feel? 
• Spend some time praying that God will help the magnitude of His grace and forgiveness to sink into your heart.