Did you realize that more than 38 of the 50 chapters in Genesis are all about Abraham and his family? I've been reading through it again, and I'm once again blown away at how cool and powerful God is. When He says something to going to happen, it's going to happen. You can't stop it. He is in control and knows all...and is ridiculously faithful.

This is a summery of those 38 chapters. Maybe it's not your cup of tea, but give it a chance if you don't know the story very well. It's pretty amazing what God did...

When Abraham was 75, God told him he would have more descendants than he could count, even though he didn't have any kids. 75 years old! I don't know about you, but I've not met a lot of 75 year-olds having kids. After 10 years of waiting and God NOT giving them kids, he and his wife Sarah took matters into their own hands and Abraham slept with Sarah's maidservant, Hagar - apparently doubting God's promise. That son was named Ishmael and from him came the Arab nation / Muhammad / Islam.

13 years after he was born, God FINALLY gave them a son...Isaac. Abraham was 99. Yowser. He'd definitely have been one of those guys that you assume is a grandparent, but is really the dad...or in this case, you'd assume he's like the great-great grandpa. "Impossible!" you say? "Clearly that's made up!" Look, if I didn't believe in an all-powerful God, I'd be inclined to agree with you. But I DO believe in an all-powerful God...so why would I doubt that He could do this?

Isaac had two sons: Esau and Jacob. Jacob was renamed "Israel" and through him came Judaism / Christianity. So, from Abraham's kids came both Islam and Christianity.

Jacob had 13 kids. Yikes! One of them was a guy named Judah, whose descendants include small names like King David and um, JESUS. But none of Jacob's family would have survived (and therefore fulfilled God's promise to Abraham) if it wasn't for what God did through another one of Jacob's kids...Joseph. To make a long story short, Joseph's brothers were jealous of him and sold him into slavery, landing him in Egypt. God rose him up to be second in command only to Pharaoh in all Egypt, and it was because of Joseph (and God speaking through him) that Egypt knew in advance that there would be a severe famine for 7 years. So they were ready for it, and no one else was...which eventually brought Joseph's brothers all the way down to Egypt to beg for food. The whole family ended up moving there, which saved the lives of Abraham's descendants. So, if God had not brought Joseph to Egypt (even though I'm sure it seemed horrible to him at the time), Abraham's descendants would have died of starvation, and God's promise would have not held up.

The cool thing is, Joseph somehow knew it was God's plan all along. When his brothers begged for forgiveness, he replied with "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."

Pretty smooth, Joe. Maybe you're a doubter and think is all far-fetched. I'm not here to argue with you. But I am here to say that if you believe God can create something out of nothing (and if you don't believe He can, I'm not sure you understand the concept of "God"), why would you have a problem believing these incredible stories?

Is it so hard to believe that the God of the universe can give a 99 year old man a child? Or that He knew about the famine well in advance and moved people around to save Abraham's descendants? Or that a young virgin girl could give birth to the Son of God? Or that somehow Jesus' death and resurrection can save you from your rebellion against God?

And how hard is it to believe that God has a plan for your life and knows all, just as He did with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah and Joseph? I know it can be hard to see because our view is limited. But God's view is NOT limited and He can do anything He wants. Believe it or not.

Maybe you don't understand Him or how He works, but would God really be God if you did? Who are we to claim we know more about how the world should operate than God? Let go and admit that you don't know everything.