Trust Me and Multiply (Genesis 15)

Ten years ago, Sarah/wife and I were trying to figure out what to do with our lives. We had just visited friends in China and came back with a job offer we didn’t expect and a decision to make. Around the same time, a team from my sending church had just come back from their first trip to Malaysia, and the lead pastor told me he thought I’d do great there. Don’t know where Malaysia is.  

I actually thought God would lead me back to Asia one day, and I was open to going back to China, but I was certain he wasn’t leading us to take those jobs.  

Not long after that, Sarah and I went on a date. We saw the new Jason Bourne movie (action) and grabbed dinner. At dinner, talking about the movie, mid-meal Sarah starts crying: What are we doing with our lives? Why didn’t we go to China? 

I’m an internal processor. It’s what helps me look calm even when I’m not. Where this coming from? We talked about this. I reminded her why we said no to China. Crisis averted. The next morning we found out she was pregnant, and the roles reversed. She felt at peace, but I was finishing up a seminary degree I didn’t think I’d use. Working at CFA. Now a baby on the way.  

Why is this my life? God, is this really what you have for me? Have you been there yet? God, what are we doing? This wasn’t my plan, is it yours? 

Last week, we started a new series called Multiply, adapted from a sermon series Ps. Peter’s sending church did ironically ~10 years ago. Over the next few weeks, we’re walking through the life of Abraham. 

If you were here last week, you got to hear how Abram’s life started, and I love how Ps. Peter pointed out that Abram was once just a name in a list of genealogies. But God told Abram to follow him so that he could bless him to be a blessing to the nations.  

I want you to notice what that means…See, God didn’t just care about where Abram was going, but also in who he was becoming as he got there. And the path to him becoming everything God was calling him to be would require Abram to learn to trust God completely, which is the simplest advice to give but the hardest to follow.  

Some people treat faith like it’s a one-time decision followed by a life of bliss. That doesn’t mean life will be simple, but maybe you expect life with God to look something like this: [IMAGE 1]

The underlying belief is that walking with God means life will go well, and if my life isn’t going well, I must have done something wrong. 

Hear me: Maybe there are people like that out in the world somewhere, but I’d be willing to bet you don’t know them, and you don’t know anyone who does.  

Plus, if a life of ease were the normative experience in the Christian life, it’s a weird omission that God gave us a book written by 40 different human authors over the course of 1600 years across 3 different continents and somehow failed to include a single story about a life of ease. 

The reality is life with God often looks more like this: [IMAGE 2]

Why is life with God like that? Because God wants us to have bold faith that multiplies. That’s a mature faith. God’s committed to doing that in you which is why… 

1. God grows our faith by testing it.

Testing is not a sign of lack of faith or the absence of God in your life. Testing is what provides the fire that exposes the quality of the faith.  

Now, if you know anything about the life of Abram, Abram is rightly called the father of the faith. But his story is a mixed bag.  

Back in Genesis 12, God tells Abram to leave his father’s house to go to the land that God would show him. As the inspiring example of faith that is he, Abram does it. He leaves everything. But fast-forward 10 verses later, and God sends a famine in the land, which leads Abram on a detour to Egypt. 

[Genesis 12:11] – When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, 12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.”

What would you call that? Doubt. Abram had enough faith to follow God out of Ur, but not enough faith for God to sustain him in Egypt. That hits home for me.  

What’s he thinking? God led us out on a grand adventure that’s going to end with blessing the world over, only for us to get sidetracked by a famine and killed by the Egyptians. That’s small-minded, linear-type faith. God’s leading me here. Roadblock. The promise ends unless I do something about it. 

But that’s not how God works. And it’s not what happens here. Abram stumbles forward, and God actually increases his blessings while bringing him back to the land of promise. But as he settles in the land, in Genesis 14, Abram’s faith gets tested again. 

This time, Abram’s more established. He goes to battle against wicked kings, and God gives him victory. Afterward, in Genesis 14, Abram meets two kings: the king of Sodom and the king of Salem, and he’s faced with a choice that becomes another faith-defining moment.  

He can take worldly wealth and compromise by subjecting himself to a king headed for destruction, or he can give away a tenth of everything he has as an act of worship, acknowledging that all he has is from the Lord and any future he has is best left in the hands of God. 

In [Genesis 14:22] – Abram tells the King of Sodom, “I have lifted my hand to the Lord, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’

Now, I know Abram’s choice seems obvious to us, but it’s really not. We think, if God’s going to bless us, that means we should get more, not give more. 

Last year, my sending church sent out another church to be planted in a different part of their city. I actually had conversation with one of the pastors right after the plant was launched. Insightful to hear from him.  

He would agree that giving is good, but they were sending out more people than they expected, including key members and staff. But in the wake of the launch, they’ve had more visitors come to the church than ever before.  

He said to me, “I don’t expect it to always be like that, but it seems that in 

God’s economy, when you give beyond what you thought you could afford, 

God multiplies his blessings beyond what you ever thought possible.”  

So along with Abram we say, great! Lesson learned. Abram’s faith grew. He passed the test. But jump ahead…in [Genesis 16], Abram’s faith gets tested again. 

[Gen. 16:1] – Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

Abram and Sarai were already in their mid-70s when God first called them. Ten years had gone by, and still no child. So they think God must need our help. Which 10 times out of 10 is a bad idea.  

Now I want you to hear this: Sarai’s idea was an acceptable cultural practice in their day. But not every cultural practice gets God’s blessing, and this was a clear attempt to short-circuit God’s purposes. You know how we see that? Because what they did entangles God’s blessing with the fruit of sin:  

• First, it stunts faith in God. The idea that the child of promise would come through Sarai eventually leads her to laugh at God.  
• Second, it’s terrible for their marriage. If I were counseling Abram and Sarai, I’d probably ask Sarai, what were you thinking?? But I’d also pull Abram aside and be like, dude… 
• Third, any blessing comes despite sin (not because of it). Hagar gets pregnant, and children are always a blessing from the Lord. But instead of protecting and cherishing Hagar, she’s mistreated and hated. 

This is a window into the story of Abraham. It’s filled with ups and downs; poor choices yet growing faith. And this will continue.   

The testing of faith in Abraham’s story is kinda like when God tells the prophet Jeremiah to go visit a potter’s house because he wants to teach Jeremiah something about the way he works.  

See, a potter starts with a lump of clay that’s useless in its present state. But the potter works to center the clay on his spinning wheel and then he starts to pull it and shape it into form. As he’s molding, if he applies too much pressure, he’ll ruin the clay; apply too little, and it won’t take shape.  

After the potter’s done molding, he lets his work dry before he places it in a kiln where any weak spots are exposed by fire. For the pieces that are set, the potter applies a glaze and puts them back in the fire to make for a stronger finish.   

God tests us to make us strong and useful according to his purposes. But maybe that leads you to ask: What does God do with the broken pieces that get exposed in the fire? Jeremiah 18:4 says, “…the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do…[6]…can I not do with you as this potter has done?

God’s solution isn’t to trash you but to call you to trust him. So let me turn the question back on you: Do you have to have control over your life for things to go well, or can you give your life–your time, talent, and treasure–over to God and let him do what seems good to him? That’s the kind of faith he wants to grow in you.  

2. God’s testing will push you past your limits. 

Turn with me to Genesis 15. Sandwiched in between Abram resisting the offer from the King of Sodom and taking bad advice from his wife, God reminds Abram of the promise.  

[v. 1] – …the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram,

I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 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?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”

God reminds Abram what he plans to do in his life, but it’s been 10 years since with little to show for it. The prospects of Abram’s wife getting pregnant ended like 40 years ago. You could have already made this happen, but you haven’t. Why not? 

See, God tests us to grow our faith, but in the testing, God often brings us past our breaking point.  

God will make you thoroughly uncomfortable with just how little you trust him. And he works like that not to bring you to despair, but to grow your faith.  

One of the pivotal turning points in my life was going on a summer mission trip to Southeast Asia when I was a uni student. Leading into that trip, I was thoroughly convinced it was what God had for me. The only barrier I faced was raising the funds to go. I had never raised support before. In fact, it was ingrained in me as a kid that you don’t ask people for money.  

On top of that, my parents didn’t want me to go. But I was convinced that God was calling me to go, so I went against the grain of my parents’ wishes and started raising support. I did everything I was told to do. Brainstormed names, wrote letters, met with people, made calls, follow up calls. Little movement.  

I was always behind with target goals. I remember being on the verge of tears in Sarah’s dorm room because I was so frustrated with God. Why would you call me to do something, then block me from going? Meanwhile, I hear of other people who raised everything they needed in the first month, and I’m like God, you could’ve done that for me. Why is this so hard?  

And I tried all the shortcuts. I asked my support coach how close I needed to get to the total before they would say I could go. I thought asking my parents could be a backup plan, but then my dad lost his job.  

I got a final check in the mail an hour before the final payments were due for the exact dollar amount I needed to go.  

Later that summer, I found out that wasn’t true. One of my team leads told me I had actually raised above and beyond my support goal and that the extra funds raised were able to be applied to others on our team who didn’t reach their funding goal.  

What I learned from that experience is that everything really does belong to the Lord. But also, God will push you past your limits to grow your faith. See, God’s not limited by your present moment like you think you are. He’s thinking about multiplying your faith, which means that in every season, he has the end result of your faith in mind.  

Walking with God like this gets uncomfortable because God’s going to come and ask you to give over things to him that you don’t want to give. He’s going to call you to sacrifice things you don’t think you could live without. And I’m not just talking about your money, your resources. That’s part of it. I’m talking about your life.  

That stupid season of support raising felt like God was pressing on an area of unbelief in my heart, and he was saying, I’m gonna need to smooth that out for you to be able to do what I’ve planned for you.  

My path into pastoral ministry came through the kiln of support raising. My path to Malaysia came through the kiln of support raising. 

Each step has felt significantly more faith-stretching, and sometimes I wonder how many more times God will need to stretch me. But whatever doubts you have are not limiting factors for God.   

See, in a moment of doubt God comes to tell Abram there’s nothing he needs to worry about because God will give him everything he’s promised. 

Abram’s not so sure, so God brings him out under the night sky, and in [Genesis 15:5] the Lord says, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

What changed for Abram? Circumstantially, nothing. He didn’t acquire more possessions. He didn’t get a new promise. It’d still be at least another 15 years before Sarah would get pregnant. But v. 6 says he believed the Lord. He was declared right with God by faith. Here’s what changed: Abram took the weight of his dependence for his future off himself and onto God.  

Where do we find the courage to trust like that?  

3. Confidence to risk everything for God comes from knowing his unwavering commitment to you.

Even after he’s justified by faith, we still find Abram wrestling with the promises of God. In [v. 7] God reminds Abram, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 8 But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”  

Most often when people come seeking God, they want to know one of two things: (1) How do I know that God is real? Can I really trust him? (2) How do I know that I can trust me? We’ve already seen from Abram’s life that the journey of faith is hard. How do I know I can live up to what God requires? 

It’s a fair question to ask and one that God answers in [v. 9] – He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down onthe carcasses, Abram drove them away.

Now, you’re probably wondering, “What does that have to do with our faithfulness to God?” See, different cultures have different ways of making binding agreements. We might say, let’s sign a contract. Everybody sign on the dotted line.  

I had a verbal agreement with some friends in high school that if we ever did something stupid and shameful we gave each other permission to punch us in the face. But what God is doing with Abram is a whole other level of accountability.   

In the ancient world, they wouldn’t sign a contract, they’d cut a covenant. So God tells Abram to go get a bunch of innocent animals, cut them in half, and make an aisle for us to walk through. The idea was we make mutual agreements and by walking through the row of animals you’re saying, “Let the same thing happen to me if I don’t uphold my end of the deal.”  

[v. 12] – As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. Then God restates his plans for Abram…[17] When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram…

Here’s what makes God’s covenant with Abram so unheard of. In covenants between a king and a servant, the king promised blessings for the servant’s absolute loyalty. In those agreements, it was normal for only the servant to walk between the cut animals. The king didn’t need to by virtue of his position. 

But notice what happens here. Abram falls into a deep sleep, and while he’s asleep, a cloud of smoke and a flame of fire pass between the animals. It’s the same imagery used later in Exodus to describe God’s presence on Mt. Sinai.  

See, in this arrangement you have the King binding himself to the agreement while the servant stands by. That would never happen. What does that mean?  

Well, if God fails to do anything he’s promised, the curse of the covenant falls on him. God will pay by his blood. But if Abram fails to uphold his end of the deal…then God will be cut off. God will pay by his blood. 

See, salvation in the Christian life, receiving the promises of God, is not a cooperative effort. It’s not, I do these things and God does these things. No, God makes himself responsible for all of it. This is one of the clearest pictures of the gospel in all the OT.  

The reality is God would give Abram a child. He would give him offspring as numerous as the stars. His family would inherit the land. God would be faithful to every promise. But Abram, and all his offspring after him, would fail. Every single one of us stumbles our way forward.  

But God promised that he would be committed to us despite our failures. It reminds me of the little hymn in 2 Timothy 2. Paul’s laying out the difficult demands of the Christian life and he says: 

If we have died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us;

13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.

God was faithful to all his promises, including his promise to take the curse of the covenant upon himself when we were unfaithful.  

That’s why, two thousand years ago, God sent his Son Jesus to live the life we could not live. He was cut off in our place. Sent out of the city to die the death we deserved. The gospels tell us that the darkness of this world came over him, that his blood poured out like a river. He paid it all.  

But on the third day he rose from grave. He’s alive. And he says if we repent and put our trust in him we will have life in his name. That’s why we can put our confidence completely in the finished works of Jesus. 

See, God wants so many good things for us. He wants us to live with such freedom. To trust him with our lives—our time, talent, and treasure. We say, but these things are all have I to live by.  

But that’s not what made Abram’s life stand out. Abram was willing to entrust everything to God because he understood that his future didn’t depend on what he could achieve, but on what God would do in and through him. He entrusted his life in the hands of the potter and said, “Here God, make of me what you will.”  

We learn from Abram’s life that…God’s multiplying power works through faith.  

Because God birthed faith in Abram Abram learned to put his life in God’s hands, and God multiplied his faith for generations.  

It became such a defining part of his life that God changed his name to Abraham because he became the father of nations.  

What would it mean for God to do the same in you? We know from the gospel that God is more committed to starting and perfecting our faith than we are. And if we can trust God with our future, that gives us the freedom to ask: God, what do you want to multiply in my life?  

I believe God’s still calling us to do big things today, but that requires we trust him. Sometimes we hesitate in that because we more trust in what we can do and less on what God can do. That happened in Abraham’s life. But since the fall, God has only had sinful, broken people at his disposal, and that’s never limited him from doing anything he’s promised.  

What does God want to multiply in your life by faith?  

Maybe God’s calling you to give generously above and beyond what you normally would. Maybe he’s calling you to raise funds to go on a mission trip. Maybe he’s calling you to open your home to start a community group. 

But if what you say back to him is: God, I’ll do that when fill in the blank happens. Whatever you put in that blank, that’s really what your trust is in.  

• God, I’ll start giving generously to you once I have more than I need. Then your trust isn’t in God its in a bank account.  

• God, I’ll start serving you once I have all the skills and resources I need. But God wants your life to be a testimony to how great he is and not how capable other people think you are.  

I don’t know what you’re waiting to have happen, but you don’t need it to walk by faith. See, God wants to grow in us the kind of faith that recognizes if God’s in it, there’s nothing in this world that can stop it, and if he’s not, then there’s nothing in this world that can sustain it.  

Don’t waste your life trying to build sand castles by the shore when God’s calling you to build monuments of faith in the lives of others by his grace.  

Maybe you don’t know where to start in that. That’s what these Multiply commitment cards are for. To help you prayerfully ask God what he wants to multiply in and through you.  

Place to start/WY1? – who’s one person close to you but far from God? Have you thought of that person yet? If you haven’t, what’s stopping you? If you have, your next step is to pray for them.  

It might feel early to talk about Easter, but it’s coming fast. We have a couple of weeks for CNY, and then a month after that, and it’s Easter. I want you to start dreaming about your 1 being at one of our Easter services. In the meantime, what if they heard the gospel from you and believed? What if they wanted to get baptized? What if they ask you to disciple them?  

All of that starts with prayer and witness. Prayer teaches us to depend on God, because it makes us wait on him to do what only he can do. That kind of dependence builds faith. Instead of saying, “I won’t do this because I can’t,” we learn to say, “God wants to do this in and through me and he will.” 

Will you take this card and ask God to direct you? Where do you need to obey more fully, by faith, and trust him?

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^[1] Works Consulted:  

Genesis-Exodus commentary – Ross, Oswalt, et. al; “Abraham and the Fire” – Keller; “Trust Me & Multiply” from Multiply series, TSC – Greear