FEARLESS DECISIONS
“Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.” Genesis12:13(NIV)
God told Abraham (then Abram) to get out of his country and promised to bless him with numerous descendants, with land, wealth and protection from his enemies. Abraham’s name would be great and through him the whole world will be blessed. Abraham departed Ur of the Chaldeans with his wife Sarah (then Sarai), and his initial journey took him to an area experiencing a famine. To escape the famine, he then migrated to Egypt. As he approached Egypt, Abraham began to have fears for his life. He suspected they would see Sarah’s beauty and kill him and take her. To protect himself, he concocted a plan with Sarah. She was to say she was his sister.
As Abraham became more fearful, he began to rely more on his wife for protection than on God. As soon as they arrived in Egypt, his fears materialized. The Egyptians saw Sarah’s great beauty and the king’s officials informed the king they had seen a beautiful woman he could have as wife. So the king sent a lavish gift to Abraham and took Sarah into the palace. Abraham accepted the gift of sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, silver and gold but lost his wife. Shortly after, God judged the king and his household and plagued the palace with terrible diseases. The king, somehow suspected it was because of Sarah, and summoned Abraham.
“Why did you not tell us Sarah was your wife, you told me she was your sister”, he queried. He sent Abraham away, who took the gifts and fled Egypt with Sarah. Was this God’s perfect method in blessing Abraham? He endured the trauma of losing his wife for a season. Sarah herself was forced into a marriage she didn’t want and the king’s household was plagued with terrible diseases; all because Abraham made a foolish decision to call his wife his sister.
Life is really the sum total of the decisions we make. These decisions, whether good or bad, will often affect those around us. When we are led by the Spirit of God, and our decisions are motivated by faith, we open the door for God to work out His blessings and His promises in our lives. But when our decisions are fueled by fear and unbelief, the outcome opens the door to negative influences in our lives and may give the devil a foothold. The decisions borne out of fear make us live far beneath the best God has in store for us.
What are you contemplating today? What is fueling your decision? Fear of circumstance or faith in God? The future outcome will depend on one or the other.
PRAYER THOUGHT
My ears shall hear a word behind me, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever I turn to the right or whenever to the left.[1]
SONG
♬God I look to You by Jenn Johnson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR5IoWH9OiI
FURTHER STUDY
Gen. 12:10-20 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+12%3A10-20&version=NLT
Prov. 10:22 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+10%3A22&version=NKJV
Psalm 32:8-9 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+32%3A8-9&version=NLT
[1] Isaiah 30:21 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+30%3A21&version=NKJV
