After Lot had gone The LORD said to Abram, “Look as far as you can see in every direction—north and south, east and west. I am giving all this land, as far as you can see, to you and your descendants as a permanent possession.
Genesis 13:14-15
After Lot was separated from Abraham, God may have waited for their separation before giving Abraham this additional revelation about the land. If so, this means that God wanted him to leave all his kindred and be a separate people. On the other hand, “after” may imply time only, and not the condition of revelation.
After passing through challenges and even painful separation from people we like, or after being maybe forced to leave things we’ve enjoyed doing, surely there is pain, disappointment and questions as we aren’t sure where to go and what to do. Be sure to forgive, don’t allow bitterness or doubts to invade your precious heart. Allow the Holy Spirit to talk to you and to reveal the things which have to be changed in your life. Give Him the permission to go deep inside of you and heal every wound in your heart. And never forget, when our relations are separated from us, yet God is not. He has a great plan for our life. This is the reason for a “before” and now it’s becoming the “after”.
“After” means it’s not the end, but the beginning of brand new things for our lives. After yesterday comes today, meaning “now”. And now, after all that has happened, the Lord is telling you, “lift up your eyes and see”. Stop looking downwards and look upwards. Look as far as you can see in every direction—north and south, east and west. This is the way that God rewards faith, telling you that “all the land that you see, I’m going to give it to you”. And His promises are huge, without limits. God is giving you all this land, as far as you can see, to you and your descendants as a permanent possession.
The only thing that we have to do is to look upwards and quit our past. And by faith, as we lift up our eyes and see the huge territories, God will give them to us in a supernatural way. And it will be better than what we’ve lost. But let’s be sure not to look one way only, but to lift up our eyes the highest we can, to see the territories in the west, east, north and south. Out of this big vision you will able to take a step of faith to start walking in your awesome promised land.
Prayer: Lord, I decide to stop looking at the past. I decide, with Your help and grace, to stop looking downwards and to lift up my eyes. And as I’m looking upwards, open my eyes to see as far as possible in every direction, to be sure that I can capture the vision You have for my life. As I see this wonderful vision of new territories, I have faith in You that You will give them to me as You’ve promised to Abraham.
Quote: Lifting up our eyes is the only way to quit the past and embrace the brilliant future.
Song: Lauren Daigle – Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
