By Faith
By Carrie Moyer “Abraham planted a Tamarisk Tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God. And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.” (Genesis 21:33-34) For generations, Abraham's descendants would look at the Tamarisk Tree in Beersheba and benefit from its shade during hot, dry days. If they knew he had planted it before the land belonged to him, they surely were astonished! Young tamarisk trees require much care and attention, and those who planted them did not live long enough to watch them mature, nor to enjoy the full benefits of their cooling shade. Men customarily planted these grand trees on land they already owned and intended to bequeath to their own children so that generations of their own descendants would enjoy the product of their labor. Abraham was a sojourner, a wanderer. He did not own the land he dwelt in. He was surrounded by strangers. Yet he trusted the word of his Lord, the Everlasting God, that one ...