Counting Stars and Sand

" And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.” Genesis 13:14-17 (NKJV) "

" And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. Genesis 15:4-6 (NKJV) "

" Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice. Genesis 22:15-18 (NKJV)”

Abraham, our Father of faith, was truly blessed of LORD -- his shield and exceeding great reward. After changing his name from Abram (high, exalted father) to Abraham (father of multitude) God has been fulfilling His prophesy and promise to make Abraham a father of many nations (Genesis 17:5).

Hitherto, I reckoned that it was easier to count the stars than the sand. But God is well ahead of our time and He knows His mathematics! This eye-opener came to me when reading "Breakthrough Prayer" by Pastor Jim Cymbala of The Brooklyn Tabernacle.

An extract from page 100 of the aforesaid "Breakthrough Prayer" tells us that: "Recent studies indicate that there are far more stars than the eye can see, perhaps 200 billion -- that's 200,000,000,000 -- in our own galaxy, and the Milky Way is just one of millions of galaxies! Though no one knows exactly how many stars there are, one estimate puts the number at three thousand million billion stars -- a three with sixteen zeroes behind it."

God is among other things our Chief Architect and Chief Scientist. Here we also get a glimpse of God as our Chief Accountant! -- "He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Psalm 147:4 (NIV)"

Our God is big; bigger than all our problems. He keeps His promises and He will indeed do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to His power that works in us. 

If God could count the stars and sand, and the hair on our head, you can be sure He has counted all the problems that we are ever gonna have, and He won't break a sweat over them. It's time for us keep faith in God, know His magnificence and magnify Him.