Abraham was old and his wife was barren. Looking at his situation and environment, he had no hope of having any descendants. At this juncture God stepped in and spoke a very encouraging word to Abraham: “…Look now toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them. And He said to him, So shall your seed be” (Gen. 15:5). That exhortation by God changed Abraham’s whole perspective. Instead of looking at himself and his pitiful situation, he looked away to the universe and its Author! Verse 6 continues, “And he [Abraham] believed Jehovah, and He accounted it to him as righteousness.”

This morning in my quiet time with the Lord, I was feeling sad and depressed about a particular situation in my life. The more I considered it, the more depressed and helpless I felt. I opened my daily devotional, and this Scripture was there for my prayer and fellowship with the Lord. As I began to chew on verse 5, the Lord was speaking these same words to me today—“Look now toward the heavens!…Look now toward the heavens!…Look now toward the heavens!” I cannot express how liberated I became! The weight of depression and oppression quickly dissipated due to a precious word from the Lord.