The Bible teaches us that God sees people very differently than we do. We look at appearances and actions, but God is able to look at motives (1Sa 16:7). He sees not only what people do, but He knows why they do it. And this knowledge seems to play heavily into how He deals with each person. I believe this truth helps us explain why He showed mercy to Abram and Sarai, even though Abram had made foolish choices that had gotten them into such trouble.

One person may make a mistake and God will intentionally bring upon him the painful consequences of his actions, while another might do the same sort of thing, but this time God comes to his assistance, helping him out of the mess he's made. In order to understand why He treats people differently, we need to try to identify some of the things He's looking for when he examines our motives. Hopefully we may learn something about ourselves in the process.

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