Climbing With Abraham: 7 Days Of FaithShembull

After Abraham received the promise, one of the first stories we read is of his failure to trust in God.

A famine fell upon the land that Abraham inhabited, and he was forced to travel down to Egypt. Out of fear of what the Pharaoh might do, Abraham concocted a half-lie saying that Sarah was his sister and not his wife (even though she was technically his half-sister). 

He did this to protect his own life and even benefited from his lie. But everything quickly imploded. Pharaoh and his leaders were inflicted by a disease and cast Abraham and his wife out of the land along with all their belongings.

God communicates two incredibly powerful truths in this short story. First, all of God’s chosen will make mistakes. I will, you will, Abraham certainly did. If the Bible repeats any message, it’s that people will fail. You will at some point do something stupid or act out of fear, and the beautiful thing is – it’s okay. It can be okay because of the second truth God communicates through this tale: His promises will not fail. 

Despite Abraham’s lack of faith, God didn’t just write him off. God stepped in, intervened, and got Abraham back onto the path he was supposed to be on. What’s crazy is that this isn’t even the last time Abraham pulls this trick. Eight chapters later we’ll see Abraham make the exact same mistake! 

The purpose of this story, and I believe the whole of Abraham’s life as well, is to give us hope. Hope and confidence that God’s patience is more powerful than our stumbles, and His love is as strong as we are fragile. 

It’s because of us that we often find our faces in the dirt. It’s because of God that we can dust ourselves off, stand back up, and carry on even stronger than we were before.

Takeaway: God knows I will make mistakes, but His promises are invincible.

Prayer: Thank you Lord for being patient with me. Help me to avoid human failures. And when I fail, give me the confidence to come back to You, because I know You will not give up on me.