If we begin our Lenten journey in a spirit of discouragement, it is good to remember Abram and Sarai’s discouragement when God’s promises were not quickly fulfilled. The signs of God’s faithfulness are all around us if we but look. More importantly, taking part in God’s great promise may be the first step to believing God and having it reckoned to us as righteousness.
Summary: Today’s story of God and Abram suggests that God acts like the tooth fairy in giving a gift while the recipient is sound asleep. That’s a sign that God’s saving work is entirely by grace. Abram is counted as righteous because he trusts God’s promise that he will have many descendants. Finally, in the biblical story, God’s promises will be fulfilled in the descendant of Abram named Jesus, and those who trust God’s promise in him are accounted righteous.