He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.” But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?” (Gen 15,7-8)

Abram ascended to his spiritual height - he believed God, and because of this He ascribed to him a positive quality of righteousness. He ascended to it by an inner struggle; it was no frivolous "bene, bene" nodding to whatever was presented to him. He had to beat his way through the bushes of incredulous thoughts that what God promises is not possible at all; but in the presence of God he finally overcome.

Once a man is on high, the ground is prepared for his spiritual victory to continue and extend towards next one. Therefore, God solemnly reminds Abram of His original promise that he would receive possession of the land in which he dwells in addition to his offspring.

But alas, faith is not an automatic thing... Abram, having just demonstrated it, is falling down again. He does dwell in the land and manages to keep his identity and religion, but still, this land is occupied by the Canaanites and receiving it seems like a fanciful idea from another world. He clearly does not want to contradict God, but neither can he agree - he demands proof. "And how shall I know that I shall receive it?"

Once we reach spiritual heights, there are others nearby ready for us, but the struggle it took to climb up is still too fresh, the victory not anchored in us enough to keep us from falling back a moment later. Peter, a moment after his best confession at Caesarea, utters the greatest folly and is rebuked; the disciples first experience the power of God as manifested through them, but soon want to call down the fire of vengeance on their adversaries. The heights and the depths are remarkably near on the spiritual path. To ascend upwards was to work against our old nature, and therefore the retrograde forces are still here for a time and by their inertia want to draw us back. Here it is necessary not to give up, to persevere, and thus to build a solid foundation for our edifice. This is where the "patience of the saints" is needed.