Some mornings my Bible reading stops me dead in my tracks.  This was the first verse I read this morning:

“Some time later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.” Genesis 15:1 (NLT)

Could have stopped right there.  What if I lived like this was true?  What if I just believed that and operated like that was the case in my life?

Look at the claims of the verse.

First – no fear.  No fear of the obsctacles ahead, the conflict pending, the challenges or the battle.  No fear.

Second, a promise of God’s protection.  God would cover for us.  Doesn’t mean it won’t be difficult (read the rest of chapter 15) or dramatic.  It might be.  It’s just that God’s got our backs.  The worst the world can do is…kill us.  And I think Jesus covered that in the resurrection.

Third, the reward will be great.  Probably doesn’t mean we’ll be rich, but it does mean that our obedience will be worth something…it matters to God, and he’ll give us whatever we need and likely far more than we expect.

Think about it:  God promised Abram (and I think, all who follow him) the ability to move through our fear, God’s own protection and a reward.

What if I lived that way?  What would it do? What mediocrity would that eliminate? What ambivalence would that crush?  What fear would that resolve?  What obedience would that make possible?   For sure I think it would give me:

• More confidence
• More courage
• More determination
• More boldness
• More faith
• More faithfulness (doesn’t fear move you off course too?)
• More resolve

So that’s what I’m chewing on today.

If you knew God wanted you to navigate the fear, that he would protect you fully and give you a reward, how would your life change?  How might that move you more onto course.  What are you not doing now that you could start doing with this being true?