Memory Verse (Finally!)

I have returned to the land of the living, so it's time for our memory verse.  It's only a week late.  =)  In my defense, the last two weeks were hellacious.  Layla came down with a high fever on a Tuesday.  Elizabeth had it by Thursday.  Between that Thursday and the following Thursday, all of us were sick, the girls had fevers of 103+ for 8 days each, and we were at the doctor's office 5 times.  Layla was never diagnosed with anything, but Elizabeth had the flu, pink eye, and two ear infections.  I had sinusitis.  Who ever knew sinusitis could be so bad?  My teeth were hurting from my sinuses being so infected.  I can't imagine how terrible my girls felt.  Elizabeth literally laid in the bed for days, using tissue after tissue after tissue.  After tissue.  I bet we bought 10 boxes of tissues.  And Charlie ate 50% of them.  That dog.  Thank God for my husband who helped A TON.  Poor guy is still sick himself, but he's pushing through.  If you prayed for us while we were down, thank you.  We needed it, and I'm so very grateful to be able to say we are doing much better.

And now, on to our memory verse.  The verse I've chosen relates to the last two weeks I had, and it's one that came from a great sermon at church this past Sunday.

We're doing a series on redemption.  We're focusing on 8 key characters/stories in the Bible, and putting them all together to see the big picture of God's story of redemption.

This past week was about Abraham, and I chose a verse from his story.  Here's the verse, and then I'll give the back story.

"Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness." Genesis 15:6, NIV 1984

A simple verse.  An easy one to memorize.  So let's do it.

To help you understand why this verse is important, I'll give the back story that was given to me on Sunday.  Abram was just a man.  An Israelite that God chose to use to show His love for His creation.  He spoke to Abram one day, which was pretty big, because He had not really spoken to anyone in quite a while.  He first told Abram to leave his people, his land, and his home, and to go somewhere else.  And then He promised Abram that He would make him into a great nation, that He would make his name great, and that all the people on the earth would be blessed through him. (Genesis 12:1-3)

Big promises.  Especially since Abram was old (like way over the hill) and had no children.  But he trusted the Lord and left his home and did as the Lord had asked.

Time passed, and Abram still did not have any children, so he began to doubt the Lord's promises.  He started questioning the Lord, saying that since he had no children, a servant would have to be his heir.  The Lord came to him and said no.  In fact, he said,  "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir."  Then he took Abram outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars - if indeed you can count them."  Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." (Genesis 15:4-5)

Can you imagine that moment?  (I love that he says, if indeed you can count them.)  Offspring as numerous as the stars?  And yet, Abram had no children and was in his 90s.  Pretty crazy stuff.  And that's where our memory verse comes in.

"Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness."  Genesis 15:6

As "crazy" as God's promises appeared to be, Abram chose to believe.  And when he believed, the Lord credited it to him as righteousness.  When we believe the Lord's promises, we are also given righteousness.  We are not righteous and do not deserve to be seen as righteous in the Lord's eyes, but He give us that when we believe Him.  How amazing is that?

I needed to hear that verse on Sunday, and I want to memorize it, because I realized over the last two weeks that I am a very weak person.  All it took was a week or two of being cooped up in the house with sick kids and feeling pretty sick myself to allow myself to go to dark places in my mind.  Hopeless places.  Bitter, frustrated, depressed places.  At first, I tried to keep up with my Bible reading, but it wasn't long before I gave up.  I didn't want to talk to God, because I was feeling bitter and not understanding why He was allowing it to keep getting worse.  In the back of my mind, I tried to remind myself to rejoice in all circumstances and to try and find the lesson to learn, but I could not do it.  Instead, I gave in to my sinful nature and allowed myself to think and feel things that were not pretty.

This verse is important, because it reminds me that I need to believe God's promises.  Even in the bad times.  Let's be honest.  The things people were going through in the Bible were way worse than a couple of weeks with sick kids.  Heck.  Abram would soon have a baby, who would likely be sick at some point, and he would be in his 90s trying to take care of that baby.  Good gracious!  I can't imagine.

I hope this verse becomes meaningful to you.  Thanks for letting me share some of my inner thoughts and things I'm not really that proud of, and thanks for not judging me.  Now let's start memorizing.

Oh - and just in case you're wondering.  The Lord wound up changing Abram's name to Abraham.  Abraham had 8 sons.  One of his sons, Ishmael, became the father of 12 sons who were the 12 tribes of Ishmael.  Another son, Isaac, had two sons of his own, Jacob and Esau.  Jacob had 12 sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel.  Another of Abraham's sons, Midian, became the father of the Midianites.  Today, according to wikipedia, Abraham is known as the father of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.  And you can read the entire genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1, which shows how Jesus was even born into Abraham's blood line.  So the Lord really did keep His promise to Abram.  He made him into a great nation for sure, and the King of the World was even born into his bloodline.  Pretty cool stuff.