Abraham and Sarah, like all of us, sure have a bad habit of forgetting, don't they? Even after God reaffirms His plan for Abraham's life, he is still living in fear. Telling lies because oh yes of course God has a plan, but He's not going to take care of my immediate needs, right? Like the fact Abraham is scared King Abimelech will kill him because his wife is so beautiful. Or the fact that Sarah stopped listening to Abraham's claim that God would bless them with a son, so she coerced Abraham into having a son the only way she knew how- with her servant.
But the nets we construct to catch us instead of God usually only serve to strangle us later.
God reveals the truth to King Abimelech in a dream and Abraham's lie is exposed. Hagar's son Ishmael is a source of great jealousy and strife in Sarah's life, until she finally pressures Abraham to cast them out of the household. Our safety nets sure don't come through. But-
"The Eternal One kept His promise..." Genesis 21:1, The Voice
In our unfaithfulness, God is faithful. Even though Abraham doesn't trust God to provide for him in the new land and Sarah doesn't have the slightest bit of faith, God still fulfills His promise to bless them with a child of their own. He even provides for Hagar and Ishmael, because though Ishmael isn't the son God promised to Abraham, he is still Abraham's son. So God blesses him, too.
In this crazy world, there is always going to be so much to be afraid of. Satan uses our logical and realist mentalities to drive us into fear-based decision making. But God simply tells us-
Do not fear.
His perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4:18). So here's to us learning to live in His perfect love!
.JPG)
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