Promises

In 2009 I am "Joining the Journey", a devotional email that sends you a portion of Scripture to read each day. Today's comes from Genesis 20, where Abraham has told the citizens of the land they are visiting that Sarah is his sister, not his wife. Of course Sarah is taken by another man, and here is what the devotional said today:

Once again Abraham does what seems unthinkable, passing his wife, Sarah, off as his sister to be handed over to the king of a godless nation who will surely add her to his harem. Acting out of fear for his own life, he offers an unsatisfying technical excuse that she is kind of his sister and, well gosh, she agreed to it anyway. And, all this comes just on the heels of God's promise to both Abraham and Sarah that they would be blessed with a son!

Wonder why in the world God would include a story like this, about the very father of the faith?

In this passage God is revealing to us another astonishingly clear example of the difference between man's failure and His grace. God made a promise to Abraham and Sarah. A promise that was part of His plan for Israel and for mankind. That promise and plan was not dependent on Abraham's strength and integrity. In spite of Abraham's failure, in spite of the situation they found themselves, Sarah being delivered into the hands of another man, God intervened in a mighty way to re-set the scenario.

To apply this to my own life is a stark reminder of my own sin in contrast to the grace of God. Like Abraham, I have made cowardly, sinful and selfish choices. Like Abraham, I tried to excuse them. However, God still has a plan and a promise. That plan and promise for me, like Abraham, is not based on my ability to never fail. And as in the Genesis 20 account, God has intervened in a mighty way to re-set the scenario in my life through the work of Jesus on the cross.