Over and over in the Book of Genesis we find God testing the Faith of Abraham. God is doing two things here: He's training Abraham and He's educating us. God wants us to know that it is by FAITH ALONE that He will be able to welcome us into His Plan of Redemption...not only as a recipient of that Redemption but also as a servant in it. What Abram has gone through should speak volumes to us. If we want to be useful to God we must follow Abram's Faith example.