The world in which we live is broken. Everyone knows it. Everyone has different ideas about how to fix it. Some turn to political involvement. Some turn to environmental causes. Some simply give up and try to get as much out of this life as they can get before it all comes crashing down. There is hope for this world and His name is Jesus.

Abram went 13 years without hearing from God after the fiasco that led to the birth of Ishmael. When God spoke, however, it was to remind him that He had been working all along, and His plan would be fulfilled.

Life is hard. Sometimes life is so hard that even as a follower of Jesus, we feel like giving up. Hebrews 12:1-3 gives us encouragement to persevere even in the toughest times of life because we're surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who are cheering us on and we're following Jesus, who's been through it all before.

After waiting for ten years for God's promise to come to fruition, Abram and Sarai embark on a plan to pursue God's promise outside of God's plan. The result was disastrous and echoes throughout history even to this day. When we're waiting on God, we can't give in to the temptation to run ahead of Him.

Rev. Ed Huie (Echo Ministries) teaches about five events that every effective minister of the gospel must go through to be used by God in great ways.

God called Abraham his friend. That friendship entailed the same characteristics that we would ascribe to friendship, including times of conversation and sharing our hearts with those whom we trust. In Genesis 15, God and Abram have a conversation and it teaches us much about the friendship we can have with God.