Gen 21:32-34
(32) So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines.
(33) Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.
(34) And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.
If ever there was a man who lived for a time to come, it was Abraham. Hebrews tells us that he was ever looking for a city "not built by man", a promise of God that he was not to see fulfilled in his lifetime. Abraham's great faith led him to strange actions - not unlike Noah, who built a boat in a desert! Abraham planted a tamarisk tree. In our day, planting trees is common. But the tamarisk is a tree that grows 1" per year. Yes, that's approximately a 400-year maturization into adulthood. Wow! Ummm... why...? Why plant a tree - in a foreign land - in the "golden years" of your life? Because, Abraham knew that God was giving that "foreign land" to his grandchildren. He was gifting his great, great, great, great, great, grandchildren... a tree swing!
Abraham believed God. According to the Word, this is what made him righteous. He had such a faith that God was going to do exactly what He promised, he acted upon it. Perhaps this is one of the more practical examples in scripture: faith, with works. God is the eternal Master. He has Time in His hand. When you are in Him, He takes your cares and adds eternality. He takes your deepest desires, and guards them as though they were His own. He takes your unexplainable hunger, and designs a vineyard to satiate it. All for you - and only you. You cannot lose - if you're in Him. There is no loss, only promotion.