Abraham is referred to as the “friend of God” three times in the Bible (see 2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23). Wouldn’t it be great to be able to say, “I'm God's buddy”?

When God called Abraham to leave his home, He promised, “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2). I think this shows, at least in part, God’s sense of humor. God told a man with no children whose wife was barren: “I'm going to make you a great nation.”

God then said, "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (v. 3). This verse introduces the core theme of the Bible: How God will bless the world through the offspring of Abraham, namely, Jesus Christ.

So Abraham departed as the Lord had spoken to him. Now, God had big blessings in store for this man, but before that, he had to separate from old relationships and cut things out of his life before he could receive those blessings.

And I think God calls all of us to do the same, to make a clean break from the past. It's called repentance in the Bible. Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24).

God said, “I will,” five times in Genesis 12. He was telling Abraham what He would accomplish. But He expected Abraham to exercise his faith.

Just as physical muscles will never develop unless they meet resistance, faith will never grow on a steady diet of blessing. The Lord called Abraham to trust Him in what He said He would do.

Now, in chapter 15, Abraham was about 90 years old when God made His covenant with him. Basically, He made a promise that Abraham would have what he had always wanted—and more. He would have a son and a multitude of descendants.

And in the New Testament, Abraham is called “the father all of those who believe” (see Romans 4:11-17; Galatians 3:6-9). Abraham believed God, and God accounted it to him as righteousness. “Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us” (Romans 4:23-24).

When Abraham complained that he was childless, God took him outside and said, “‘Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be’” (Genesis 15:5). Then comes a key verse in all of Scripture: “And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness” (v. 6).

So let me just encourage you. When you feel down and in despair, when life seems overwhelming, go outside at night and look up. Your heavenly Father did that.

He spoke it into existence, and He holds it all in place.

And you’re only seeing a portion of the Milky Way galaxy. Even at the speed of light—186,000 miles per second—it would take you 100,000 years to go from one end of it to the other. You know what God says to that? He says, “This is small stuff to Me.”

This is the God you serve. And He wants to call you friend.