If I Listen

Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, "I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife.' Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake."
Genesis 12:10-13

This learning that we must trust in God is a long process. For some reason, and I am sure it is an excellent reason in Abram's eyes, he needed to tell the authorities that Sarai was not his wife. It could be, like today, that women in that day were objectified and used and owned and Abram was starting to play into their game.

Abram and husbands today are to be those who guide, protect, care for, and love their wives like Christ loved the church. The minute a man begins to look after his self, and make his comfort, pleasure, and desires dominant, he will be in trouble. Abram was looking out for himself, not Sarai. Therefore, there is trouble.

God is both merciful and gracious and dealt with Abram and Sari in a way that allowed minimal harm to all. I wonder, though, what damage was done to the private relationship between Abram and Sarai, or if trading women and objectifying them was so ordinary that this was no big deal. Culture can begin to dictate what we think is a big deal and what we feel is nothing. That role belongs to God, not to the majority opinion.

If I listen to God, He intervenes and takes care of the situation so that we win in the end. But, on the other hand, if I ignore God, He takes care of the situation in a way that will make me wish I did not ignore Him.


https://www.podbean.com/relate365

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