How to Trust God When Life Doesn't Make Sense | Season 9 Ep 5

Start with a mustard seed, end with a sky full of stars—that’s the journey we walk through as we sit with Abraham in Genesis 15 and ask the same honest question he asked: How will I know? We explore the turning point where God answers doubt not with scolding, but with a covenant sealed by Himself. In a world obsessed with proof on demand, this story shows a God who binds Himself to His people, translating faithfulness into a language Abraham could feel and trust.

We unpack the ancient meaning of covenant, the dramatic ceremony of passing between the pieces, and why it matters that God alone walks through while Abram sleeps. That single act reframes faith from self-effort to surrender, from earning to receiving. It also points forward to Jesus and the new covenant, where Jesus takes our sin so we can inherit the promise. Along the way, we get practical about growing faith: how to follow when the map isn’t clear, how to handle missteps without quitting, and how simple obedience builds spiritual muscle over time.

For those who feel far from their first love, we offer a gentle return. The invitation isn’t to perform but to follow—to bring even mustard seed faith and watch God do the heavy lifting. If you’re craving a reset, biblical clarity, and a reminder that God finishes what He starts, this conversation is your nudge. Listen, reflect, and share with someone who needs courage to take the next step. If this spoke to you, subscribe, leave a review, and tell us: what promise are you choosing to trust this week?

Transcript

Opening And Prayer

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey all, thank you for joining us here at Grab the Faith, where we try to grab the faith and run with it. Join us as we try to learn a little more, grow a little more, and live a lot more. I'm your host, Bobby Gentry Goodwin. Stay tuned for this week's episode. Good morning, good morning, good morning. This is Bobby Gentry Goodwin coming to you from Grab the Faith for the Wednesday Word of the Week. Coming to you again this early, early, early Wednesday morning for the Wednesday word of the week. Hello. Thank you for joining me this morning as we try to grab the faith and run with it on today's live stream. And it's such a privilege to be with you today and for an incredible and dynamic lesson with a word that was given to me from the Lord. And so I'm gonna try to dice it, slice it, and give it to you like he gave it to me. And listen, I am not an expert. Let me be clear about this. I like last time, I may make a mistake, but this is why it's so important to have Bible study. So you can say, oh, she made a mistake. So you yourself can learn the word of God. But listen, we just gonna take this word and run with it. And we're just gonna do the best we can to edify God and to lift him up. So let's go. Let's go before the Lord in prayer before we get to this word today. Father, we come to you this morning, Lord, just a closer walk with thee. Grant it Jesus, if you please, daily walking close to thee. Let it be, Lord. Let it be. Lord God, we just want to come this morning, just drawing near to you, drawing closer to you, learning more of you so that we may more reflect you and reflect your glory. The light of Christ in us, Father. Lord God, we ask that you would guide us in your word, Father. Teach us your word, Lord God. Grow us up, that we may not be on spiritual milk, Lord God, but we will be on spiritual food, that we would be able to just take in steak and digest it, Lord God, that we may be filled, Lord, filled with you and filled with your spirit, Lord God. Teach us this morning, Lord God. Move me out of the way and have your way in this place, at this hour, in this time, that you may be glorified. Lord God, be with us all throughout the week. But on today, teach us, Lord God. We are thirsty, we are hungry, and we want to hear from you. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Good morning. Okay, let's get into it, okay? So this morning we're gonna couch right in a theme. And the theme this morning is faith. Anyone need more faith? Mustard seed faith is great, but we want to have a little bit more faith. And mustard seed is all it takes. Let me be clear. But we want to have and grow in our faith. So we're gonna talk about that today as we sit down and catch up with none other than the father of faith himself. Y'all know who the father of faith is? Well, you know I'm gonna tell you. Let me be clear about that. The father of faith is none other than Abraham himself. And listen, when I think of the father of faith, I think of the father, right? I think of someone who is in authority, right? Someone is the head, the chief, the captain of those things. And so listen, in my mind, I could think of somebody that's perfect. But if we read Abraham's story, we will know that he wasn't perfect, y'all. He really displayed a lot of faith. And listen, I want you to know you don't have to be perfect, okay? You don't have to be perfect because if we were perfect, we wouldn't need Jesus. But listen, let's be clear about this. We don't have to be perfect, right? As I mentioned, must receive faith. We can show up with what we got, okay? And the Lord will use what we got. And that's exactly what he did with Abraham. See, we're gonna couch in a portion of text that shows just how much the Lord loves us. Because sometimes we can put people on a pedestal because they have a title. But listen, we don't have to have a title this morning. We don't have to be minister this, minister that, deacon this, deacon that. We don't have to be usher this, usher that. All we have to do is be able to go before the Lord in faith and we can usher in his presence. Listen, we don't have to have a title. We can all, we all must find ourselves at the foot of the cross. There is no big eyes or little u's in the kingdom of God. We all have to go before the foot of the cross. No matter who we are or what we do, good or bad, we all have to find ourselves bowed before his goodness. So let's jump right in. If you have your Bibles, join me in Genesis chapter 15, verses 5 through 12, and then we're gonna read verses 17. Genesis chapter 15, verses 5 through 12, and then we're gonna count a little bit in verses 17, which says this he took him outside and said, Look up at the sky and count the stars. If indeed you can count them. This is God talking to Abraham. Look up, look up at the skies and look and count the stars, if you can count them. Okay. Then he said to him, So shall your offspring be. Abram, who is also Abraham, Abram, but in this text, this is before he was renamed. He we call we could what he's known as Abram. Abram believed the Lord, and he credited to him as righteousness. He also said to him, I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it. Whoo, how am I getting excited right now? Just reading the word of the Lord. But Abraham singing, Abram said, Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it? Going back to verse 7, he said, he also said to him, This is the Lord speaking. He also said to him, I am the Lord who brought you out of the out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land, to take possession of it. The Lord is telling him right there, I'm the one who was with you, I'm the one who put you in the place that you're in, I'm the one who took you from point A to point B. I'm the one to give you this is why I'm doing it, to give you this land to take possession of it. But Abram said, Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it? So the Lord said to him, Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon. Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two, and arranged the halves opposite of each other. The birds, however, he did not cut in half. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day, on that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said to your descendants, I give this land from the excuse me, from the from from the the from Egypt to the great river the Euphrates. Now we picking up in here, I can't even hardly read, I'm crying. Now we picking up here right at the a display of the Abrahamic covenant. The Lord had told Abraham before and told him again in a text I read what he was going to do for him. This covenant was first outlined in Genesis 12. Covenant is the sacred binding agreement of promise. The sacred binding agreement or promise that is made by God with his people. God makes the promise, his a binding promise, and he makes it with his people. Some of these covenants in the word of God, there's several that were conditional and unconditional. This is the Bible study part. This covenant was unconditional, the Abraham covenant. So to name a few of these covenants is the Adamic covenant, the Mosaic covenant, the Noah covenant, the Davidic covenant. But today we're couching on the Abrahamic covenant. Now, if you know the story of Abraham, you know about his life. Abraham, this father of faith, got it all started off, right? He has an incredible testimony of God's goodness, faithfulness, and his grace. And we're seeing it play out right here in this covenant in this text that we read. Go on back to Genesis 12 and read all throughout, and you will see how good God is to Abraham. See, we first meet him in Genesis 12, just living his life. But all of a sudden, something happens, y'all. All of a sudden, we get introduced to Abraham when God introduces him to us. See, God takes the initiative with Abraham. Abraham ain't doing nothing special, but God looks at him and calls him out. God calls him out of his land and says something important. He knocks on Abraham's door and says, Follow me, just like Jesus did with his disciples. Knocking at their door, they ain't doing nothing special. But the Lord recognizes him and says, Follow me. He tells Abram to leave his country, his residence, his land, and follow him to a land that only God will show him. Now, wait a minute. Let's let's pause there. You mean Abraham was just supposed to believe God? Abraham, Abram, in this text, was supposed to just believe God. God showed up at his door and said, Listen, you need to leave. And Abraham in that moment was just supposed to do one thing, believe God. Follow him blindly, not even knowing where he was going, but he believed God. Oh, the father of faith, he believed God. Well, that's exactly what he did. No surprise here. And God calls him from his own doorstep into a relationship with him. And at that time, God makes him some promises that he will make him into a great nation, give him a place of belonging, he would bless him, he will make him a blessing to others, he would fight his battles, and all the families of the earth will be blessed because of him. You catching his word this morning? God shows up to his door, tells him to follow him to a place that he had not known, but only God will show him. And because of he following him, he was gonna give him some blessings. Listen, if you ain't catching this lesson already, I don't know what to tell you. Because listen, Jesus came into our life. He showed up at the door, chose us, and asked us to do one thing, and that is to follow him to wherever he might lead us. And if we follow him, there's some promises at the end of the day. Catch this in the lesson. He started it with Abraham, but he's showing up to your door this morning, telling you one thing. You don't have to have big faith, muster seed faith, enough to follow him, trust him, and he's gonna show you some things. Let me get on in the lesson. And then after these incredible follow following, after these incredible promises, benefits to following God, y'all. Abraham did something. He stepped out on faith. And as we read in Genesis 12 and 13, he messes up, y'all. Okay, he follows him, but times got hard and he messed up a little bit, right? As we all do. Thank you, Jesus, for your for your salvation and your power, which covers us. But the sovereign God bailed him out of it, okay, just like he knew us. But listen, I hope this is sounding familiar. Because if you look back on your life, if you look back on your life, you know that God, if you've been following him for a minute, you know he made you some promise, and you know you fumbled the ball. You know that he made you some promises. He said, follow him, and you know that you fumbled the ball. But he he cleared you up, he did some things to get you out of it, just so you can be a reflection of his glory. God keeps showing up to you just like he shows up to Abram in incredible ways. He shows up to you time and time again, just so to let you know, just like he knew, let Abram know that he's with you. Announcement, God is with you. Announcement, God is with you. Announcement, God is love, he loves you. Announcement, God rides for you each and every day, even when you don't ride for him, he rides for you. And that's where we find Abram in this text. Walking in communion with God, in a relationship with God that God called him to, still having some problems, but still walking with God. Anybody have problems but still want to walk with God this morning? Listen, we are on this Bible study just to know just how good God is, that if we keep walking with him, yes, we're gonna have some problems. Yes, we're gonna have some turmoil, yes, we're gonna have some trouble. But God is riding with you, Saint. God is not leaving you alone, He's standing steadfast with you if you stand with him this morning. But listen, that's not what I came to talk about this morning. I came to talk about the covenant as we're trying to wrap to this end this morning, because something incredible happens in Abram's struggle. We see him struggling. He's saying to God, God telling him, I'm gonna give you this land. And he's saying to God, how will I know? Like with Houston, how will I know, Lord? And then God does something incredible, and I don't want you to miss it this morning. God does something incredible in Abram's worry, in his ancientness, and maybe even doubting, he says to Abram, he shows him something, he shows him something important, he shows them that he is faithful, y'all. Listen, we can come up to God with questions. How am I gonna know you're gonna do what you say you're gonna do? How am I gonna know who you say you are? How am I gonna know you're gonna be true to your word? Keep your promises, and this is what the Lord does, and then we'll be wrapped for today. Abram comes to God and says, How will I know like Whitney Houston? And in verse 9, God says to him, Bring me a heifer, a gold, and a ram. He tells them how old they must be, he tells him, bring them a dove and a young pigeon. And Abram follows his instructions, cuts them in two, and arranges them in half opposite each other. And as the sun was setting, Abraham was put in a deep sleep. And when the sun has set and darkness has fallen, a smoking pot, a smoking firepot. I'm trying to get through it, with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces, and God repeated this covenant with Abraham. This is incredible, y'all. And I'm gonna tell you why, and we're gonna wrap for the day. This is incredible because God reaffirms his promises, reaffirms his covenant with Abraham with a tradition that was done in that day. When a covenant was made between the people in those days and times, they would use this ceremony to, this is putting blood on it, y'all. They would use this ceremony to double down on the covenant. They would use this ceremony, the person would that would be in agreement with each other, the person that's the lesser of them, the person that's the lesser would have to walk through these pieces of this sacrifice to double down on this covenant, saying, Hey, I agree to this so much so that I am walking through these pieces. And if I don't keep my promise, I'm gonna put a curse over my head. That was done during this day. Listen, y'all, God is undertaking this symbolic undertaking to tell Abraham in his own language, in a way that he can understand. I'm doubling down. You are sleeping, you are at rest, and I'm showing you in a vision what I will do for you. I, the higher authority, am going to walk through these pieces just to show you how much I love you, just to show you exactly what I will do. I will take on the burden, I will take on this idea that I will take on the curse if I don't keep my promise. God did it in that moment. He did it all just to show Abram exactly what he will do. When Abram is sleeping, when Abram is not doing nothing, God is doing it all. In this one incredible act, it reminds me of none other than Jesus Himself. That He shows through action. While we were sleeping, dead in our sin, while we couldn't lift a finger to save ourselves. God said, I'm in covenant with you. I'm gonna show you a new covenant, I'm gonna pay the price, I'm gonna do it all. You don't have to lift a finger. I'm gonna take the stripes of sin. I'm gonna do it all. Everything that you do wrong, I'm gonna stand in your place so that you can be in relationship with me. Listen, that smoking fire pot and flame and torch represented the presence of God. He himself walking through to seal the covenant. And listen, in the new covenant, we were sealed also, but we were sealed not by our own blood, but through the blood of Christ. Christ did the work himself, and this, I don't know if it's exciting to you, but it's exciting to me because my nose running, honey. I'm sloppy right now. Because this is a foreshadowing of this new covenant that we didn't have to take one lash, we didn't have to take one nail, we didn't have to take one insult, one spit, we didn't have to take none of that, y'all. Jesus paid it all. Why did he do it? Because he loved us. Abram didn't do anything to earn God's favor, but he showed faith. He didn't even show it perfectly, y'all, but he showed faith, and that's the only thing that God asks us to do is just to show faith in him. He took on the sins of the world, and all we have to do is show faith. He took the initiative, not us, he took the initiative to choose us that we might know him because he knows us to call us into relationship with him and not just any relationship, right relationship. Listen, y'all, what's the word of the week? Follow, just have enough faith to follow where he wants to take you. You might not know where he's taking you, you might not know why he has you on the road, he has you, but follow. Hear me say, some God, follow him. If you just follow him, there are great impressions and promise he gave you at the start. Walk in them because he loves you, and he would never do anything to harm you. God loves you. Say, I'm on here declaring he loves you, all you gotta do is follow. And for some, in particular, the Lord put this on my spirit, I believe. And I'm done. But if you want to stay around just to hear this part, for some of you, God wants you to return back to your first love. He wants you knew him in a previous season of your life. He called you out in a previous season of your life, he spoke a word over you in the previous season of your life, but you messed up real bad. You lost faith along the journey. Listen, God wants me to remind you who he is and how much he loves you. He gave me a dream this week that just reminded me to remind you, go back to your first love. Come back to him because he's waiting on you with open arms. He wants you to know he didn't do all of that for nothing. He did it for you. It don't matter where you find yourself right now, but he did it for you. Come back to him, just follow him again and let him show you who he really is, that he will stand up for you each and every time, even when you can't stand up for yourself. You may have been asleep like Abraham, but he Abram, but he wants to show you the lengths he's willing to go through just to show you how much he cares. That's it. God bless you. This week, follow. Follow. God bless you, and may he keep you throughout the week. I'll see you next week early for this Wednesday word of the day. God bless you. Bye bye.