"Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, 'What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done.' And Abimelech said to Abraham, 'What have you encountered, that you have done this thing?' Abraham said, 'Because I thought, surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife. Besides, she actually is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife; and it came about, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said to her, 'This is the kindness which you will show to me: everywhere we go, say of me, "He is my brother.'" Abimelech then took sheep and oxen and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and restored his wife Sarah to him." Genesis 20:9-14
Abraham had been so scared for his life he told Sarah to tell this king she was his sister. So the king had taken her for his wife. He hadn't touched her as a husband touches a wife. God came to him in a dream and told him who she was and to give her back to Abraham.
This wasn't the only time Abraham pulled this stunt, put his life above his wife's safety and virtue and also above his belief in God. We Believers have our problems. I'm thankful God doesn't sugarcoat the Bible stories. He had them written down as they happened.
We never see God condemning Abraham over this. Some might take this silence as God condoning Abraham's behavior. No. This isn't true. Just because God doesn't say anything explicitly about a situation doesn't mean we have his approval. And Abraham didn't. BUT, God stuck by his own even when his behavior wasn't great. When he told Abimelech about the situation, he called Abraham a prophet and said Abraham would pray for him and his people and God would heal them.
So Abimelech confronts Abraham. Abraham wastes a little time justifying himself, but he also confesses his fear, a fear for his own death. And this fear caused him to act cowardly.
But in this confession, I propose Abraham was finally free from this fear. For in the next chapter of the Bible is when Isaac comes into the story, the son he had waited for for 25 years at least.
Now, I don't know if his fear slowed the process of Isaac coming into being. I tend to think the answer is no for God's timing is perfect.
But the thought that came to me when reading this this morning was that when God is getting us ready for a work or a new time in our lives he may expose hidden fears within us that need to be dealt with for us to handle what is coming our way.
If you are dealing with a fear or maybe a hidden sin that God has exposed, don't see it as a bad thing. God is cleaning house. God is getting you ready for a big blessing (if you let him do his work).
I believe it!