We think of Abraham with a halo. Hardly. Not once, but twice he throws his wife under the bus. As they travelled through Egypt, Abram says to Sarai, ‘You’re a beautiful woman; I’m afraid the Egyptians will want to kill me so someone can have you for a wife, so let’s tell them you’re my sister’ (see Genesis 12:11-13). Pharaoh does take Sarai into his harem – giving Abram, her ‘brother’, a bunch of sheep, cattle, donkeys, servants, and camels. Rather than feeling guilty and coming clean, Abram simply says, ‘Thank you very much.’ And if you think that’s bad, when Abraham and Sarah are in the Negev later on, recorded in Genesis 20, he does the whole ‘she’s my sister’ routine a second time. Why doesn’t God just give up on him? Because Abraham doesn’t give up on God! Abraham eventually reached the place in his walk with God where his CV reads: ‘Who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform’ (Romans 4:18-21 NKJV). Note the words ‘strengthened in faith’. God’s plan is not to discard you, but to develop your faith and use you to bring glory to His name.

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.