"After all these things, this word of God came to Abram in a vision: 'Don't be afraid Abram. I'm your shield. Your reward will be grand!" ~Genesis 15:1 MSG
Abram has moved out of Uz, and he's living up with a bunch of fellows called Aner, Eschol and Mamre. His nephew Lot has moved to Sodom, but unfortunately all of the kingdoms around are at war with one another. And, in true fairy-tale fashion, what kingdom will get plundered and have all of its people taken as captives? Because the Bible says Lot is in Sodom... of course, it will be the kingdom of Sodom. Yes, Sodom gets attacked, ransacked, beaten and defeated by other kingdoms. An escapee of the carnage goes to Abram and is tells him, "Hey, your nephew got kidnapped!"
An angry Abram tells all his fellows "Come on, help me get my nephew back!" So the lot of them (pun intended) go and they whip those bad kings so bad, that they not only get Lot and his family back, but ALL of the plunder that was taken from the kingdom of Sodom. The king of Sodom of course is very grateful, but he still says, "Keep the people if you'd like but please give us our loot back..." Abram doesn't care about the plunder, so he gives it back and lets Lot and all the people go back to living in peace. He goes back with his fellows and they continue living.
Those two paragraphs above describe what "after all these things" is referring to.
And Abram got anxious. What if he had died? How could God possibly bring about His promise?
But God tells Abram NOT to fear. God promises Abram that He will be his shield, and reassures Abram that his reward will be great. God comforts Abram in his time of doubt and uncertainty. And He'll comfort you too.
As long as you are following in His commands, living without sin (or at least confessing and asking for forgiveness when you do sin), there is no need to be afraid; God will follow through. He'll defend His promise. And obeying God is ALWAYS worth it, even if you don't get three boxes of treasure.
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