“Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.”

— Genesis 15:5

I wonder how many times Abram had looked into that sky, asking God to fulfill his promise from years earlier to give Abram children of his own. I also wonder if Abram had stopped praying that prayer, and when. God had promised him that the nations would be blessed through his offspring (Genesis 12:1-3). But nothing had changed. Abram and Sarai still didn’t have a child.

There is weariness and sorrow in Abram’s response to God: “What can you give me since I remain childless . . . ?” Here Abram is basically asking, “Can I truly believe you . . . ?”

For many of us, this is our story too. We’ve prayed again and again, trusting that God hears us and cares for us. Sometimes God shows up with a miraculous answer. But other times we cry out with the psalmist, “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?” (Psalm 13:1).

It was 25 years before God fulfilled the promise to Abram in the birth of Isaac, and nearly 2,000 more years passed before God sent Jesus as the ultimate fulfillment of his promises.

During Advent, we join Abram in waiting with our weariness and sorrows. And God invites us to remember and believe that his faithfulness, mercy, and love for us extend from one end of the heavens to the other—far beyond our ability to count.

Lord, we struggle with weariness and grief. We need your deliverance. Help us to wait for you in the hope that you will fulfill all your promises. In Jesus, Amen.