By S. Pat Burkard OSF
We have been following the journey of Abram, and things are not going very well for him. We heard of his parting with Lot. In one Bible reading we find him complaining to God, bemoaning that he is childless and when he dies, one of his servants will be his heir.
But then “the word of the Lord came to Abram” assuring him that will not happen –God tells Abram “one of your own shall be your heir” and then quite dramatically God reinforces that statement by telling Abram “Look up at the stars and see how great your descendants will be.” The reading goes on to say “Abram put his faith in the Lord” and we know from salvation history the Lord kept his promise to Abram and made his descendants many.
We can put ourselves in Abram’s place, knowing that sometimes we create our own darkness of fear as he does, and we too have difficulty trusting and believing in God’s promises to us. Promises like “I shall be with you always,” “Do not be afraid I go before you!” “I will never abandon you,” or “I love you with an everlasting love.”
In our personal and communal lives, especially during anxious and difficult times, we need to remind ourselves to look for the LIGHT in our darkness, find FAITH in our doubts, JOY in our sorrows and COURAGE in our fears, and trust that like God did for Abram, God will do for us and fulfill his promises to us also.
We have reassuring words in this psalm. We proclaim that the “Lord renews his covenant…” with us not just today or for a few days each year, but that the Lord renews his covenant with us FOREVER!
