The Badlands
Genesis 15:1–6
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
Most summers, my mom and dad packed up my three brothers and me in our white, 1999 Chevy Suburban and Sportsman trailer, and we headed west from New York State. They promised we would see new things—mountains, canyons, plants, animals. But before we could get there, we had to endure the 1,633-mile car ride.
My dad likes to tell the story of the day we finally reached our destination—the Badlands National Park. We had been driving most of the day (and most of the 5 days before that), but the park was still too far. The plan was to stop a few hours from it and continue on in the morning. We were tired, cranky, and sick of being in the car together. And then we accidentally missed our campground, and it didn’t make sense to turn back. Crankiness reached a new level. Tears were shed. Our bellies were hungry.
But we kept driving. And then, somewhat unexpectedly, we were there. We had stumbled upon our destination, what was promised to us, and we forgot that we were tired and hungry. To this day, the Badlands is one of the most bizarre and beautiful places I’ve ever seen.
Similarly (and also vastly unsimiliarly), God promised Abraham something completely bizarre and incredibly beautiful. He promised him a son when, as Hebrew 11:12 states, he was as good as dead. And on top of that, God promises Abraham that his descendants would be a nation as numerous as the stars in the land he dwelled in as a sojourner.
Unlike my road trip to the Badlands, Abraham never witnessed the complete fulfillment of the promise God made to him, which was always a condition of the promise (v. 15). He endured the long journey. He suffered and grieved. He made condemning mistakes. He doubted. It's as if Abraham spent his whole life stuck on the long car ride. Or maybe he made it to the Badlands, but he got stuck in the parking lot and never saw the wonder of the canyon before him. He just believed it would be there.
It’s difficult to believe in something when everything around you is telling you otherwise. But Abraham believed in the promise of the Lord, and it was counted to him as righteousness (v. 6). Abraham took a big risk on a big God who saw his promise through. In the end, he was justified by his belief that God would make good on his promise. And God did. Jesus, the ultimate son of Abraham, makes good on the promises to Abraham. He is the blessing to the world. Just like Abraham, this beautiful promise can be offered to us if we believe in him like Abraham did; what happened then can happen now. We believe and he counts us as righteous. If we keep driving we’ll end up in a place even more beautiful than the Badlands. A place of trust in a God who makes good on his promises.
