Step Out and Look Up!

He brought him outside and said, "look now toward heaven, and count the stars." (Genesis 15:5)

In every believer's life there needs to be a time when we count the stars. Yes, that's right, count the stars! Not the Hollywood stars but the stars in the sky. That's what God told Abraham to do here in today's verse. God was getting ready to take Abraham to the next level of his faith and vision for his life. God was wanting to give Abraham the capacity to contain a great faith and vision. God was wanting to expand and stretch Abraham's ability to see and believe.

But first Abraham had to "go outside." That means he was obviously in his tent. The tent here speaks of man's limitation and comfort zones. The tent was probably made of animal skin and it did shelter him from the weather. But many times the "fleshly" coverings in our lives limit our ability to truly see where God wants to take us. God said to get out of the tent, get out of the limited ability to see. Come out of the trust in a fleshly security system and look up! Look up and see the vastness of the stars! Go ahead and count them...this is how big your family will be.

So it is with us. We can surrender to God and begin to think big, but there comes a time when we physically need to move from one point to another in order to get a new perspective in life. Want to share your faith? Go to the mall and look for people. Want to find a new job? Get in the car and begin to drive. Need a new car? Go down to the dealership and look around. You say you don't have the finances? That doesn't matter at this point. All you are doing is looking. Looking for opportunities and creating vision to see. Need more education? Then go look for it. Need a friend? Make yourself available. Oh, and as you are doing these things, tonight, if it's not cloudy, step out of your home and look up! What do you see?...Those are the same stars that Abraham saw...many, many years ago.

from the issue of Jubilee Journey, Living in Faith Everyday. 175 Nortech Parkway, San Jose CA 95134. www.jubilee.org