The Tamarisk Series: Part I

I want to examine what he did, I want to dialogue through the actions we know Abraham performed that were pinnacle moments in his becoming/being generational. I immediately want to jump to the matters of the land, the children, the planting, but I cannot pass by the complexity of belief; for it is indeed the first thing he did.

"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."- Genesis 15:5-6

This is what I have the hardest time grasping. Planting makes sense. Commitment makes sense. Raising children makes sense. They all are logical and seemingly obvious pieces in the puzzle of becoming generational. But belief? Yet at the same time that it doesn't make sense, it most certainly does. Because although I think, "How can belief change anything? Just because I believe doesn't mean that it is going to happen." I know that, although belief on its own doesn't change things, it does, however, change the way we live and move and that is what changes things.

If I believe that I am beautiful, it doesn't change my appearance, but it does change my perception of my appearance; it changes how I treat myself, how I talk about myself, how I conduct myself, and how I allow others to treat me as well. It changes things. Believing didn't change the physical, but it changed everything around and about the physical.

Abraham and Sarah were a couple of expired potential; they were well in their old age, having children was an idea that would have been easily believable 50, 60, 70 years ago. But Abraham believed The Lord. And that belief changed things. It changed his perception, it changed his attitude, it changed the way he spoke, it changed the way he lived, it changed the kind of husband he was, it changed the way he prayed, the way he thought, it changed the way he gave, it changed the way he worshipped. It changed him. Believing had to be the first step because without believing I don't think his later actions would have come about. Would God have still fulfilled His promise to Abraham? Of course because God said He would do it. But would Abraham have invested in that promise as he did without believing in its truth? Probably not.

So for us who desire to be generational, to do things that impact the generations after us, the first thing we have to do is believe that it can be done. Because after all, you may scatter the seed, but The Lord makes it grow 1. Do you believe that God can touch the generations through your life? Do you trust Him to do it? Do you trust Him as the steward of your legacy? Do you believe that he can and will do it? Do you believe that He wants to?

We have to believe. Even though we have no proof, even though we have no grasp on the future and no hold on our children's decisions, we have to believe. It takes faith to invest generationally; it takes guts and it involves much risk. If we do not believe how can we expect to arrive on a shore we doubt is waiting for us? How can we build homes on doubt, raise children on doubt, make investments in doubt, plant tamarisk trees with doubt? No. We must first believe. We must believe, not because it changes everything, but because it changes us.