Amen
Read
Genesis 15:2-6 (NASB) But Abram said, “Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Abram also said, “Since You have given me no son, one who has been born in my house is my heir.” Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” Then he believed in the LORD; and He credited it to him as righteousness.
What is it saying to me?
How many times have you said "Amen"? I'd say most of the time we say “amen” without really thinking about it. It’s how we close a prayer, kind of like signing off at the bottom of a letter. Or it’s what somebody calls out when the preacher says something good. Either way, it usually comes at the end, tacked on after the important stuff.
In this story, though, amen isn’t tacked on. It’s the main verb.
"Amen" is about something solid. At its core it means firm, steady, reliable. Something that will hold. It’s used for things you can put weight on. When Israel was fighting the Amalekites and Moses’ arms got tired, Aaron and Hur held them up so that his hands were “steady” until sunset (Exodus 17:12). That’s the same family of words. So when someone says “amen,” they aren’t just saying “I agree.” They’re saying “this is firm. This will hold. I’m putting my weight on it.”
So look at Abram. He already had faith. It’s what got him to leave his home and take his family on a journey to a land he’d never seen. Still, by Genesis 15 he’s old, his wife is barren, and he’s frustrated. And he tells God pretty bluntly: You haven’t given me a son, and a servant is going to inherit everything.
God takes him outside, tells him to count the stars, and promises that his offspring will be just as many. Nothing in Abram’s circumstances has changed. He’s still childless. He walks back into the same tent.
But “then he believed in the LORD; and He credited it to him as righteousness.”
That word “believed” is the amen word. Abram, in effect, amened God. Everything Abram could see and touch was shaky: his age, Sarai’s barrenness, a servant lined up to inherit. None of that would hold weight. And Abram looked at God and said, “You’re the solid thing here.” He didn’t say “I understand” or “Now I can see how this works out.” He said “yes, so be it, I steady myself on it.” He leaned his whole weight on a promise he couldn’t yet hold.
That’s what makes his faith so remarkable. It’s easy to say amen to something you can already see. Abram said amen to God when the only evidence he had was God’s word and a sky full of stars. Paul puts it this way: Abram was “fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform” (Romans 4:21, NASB).
The faith God credited as righteousness wasn’t certainty about the outcome. It was an amen to the Person. Amen isn’t just how we end a prayer. It’s how we answer God.
What is it saying to you?
• Does your faith feel more like a set of beliefs you hold or a Person you lean on? What would shift if it were more personal?
• Abram was honest with God about his disappointment. Is there something you’ve been keeping polite or vague with God instead of saying plainly?
• What promise or situation in your life feels like counting stars, too big to see how it could work out?
• What would it look like for you to say “amen” before anything changes?
What are we going to do about it?
Do what Abram did. Tell God out loud the one thing you’re most disappointed or worried about, as honestly as Abram did. Then end with amen, and mean it the way Abram did: yes, so be it, I’m staking myself on You.
