Purpose in Your StrugglesSample

THREE STEPS FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK

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From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.” Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people? Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.” Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her. Now then, return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.”

So Abimelech rose early in the morning and called all his servants and told them all these things. And the men were very much afraid. 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 my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done.” And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you did this thing?” Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. And when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”

Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him. And Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all who are with you, and before everyone you are vindicated.” Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children. For the Lord had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

-Genesis 20

At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do. Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity, but as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned.” And Abraham said, “I will swear.”

When Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech’s servants had seized, Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.” So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant. Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart. And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” He said, “These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that this may be a witness for me that I dug this well.” Therefore that place was called Beersheba, because there both of them swore an oath. So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines. Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.

-Genesis 21:22-34

Reflect

“I know better! How could I make the same mistake again?”

Can you relate? Have you asked yourself how you could do something you thought you would never repeat? Welcome to the human condition. I call it the three steps forward, two steps back syndrome. Abraham knew something about this pattern.

After the destruction of Sodom, Abraham traveled south. Again he gave in to his fear that trouble would come from a foreign king. He went into panic mode yet again and lied about Sarah, yet again. Didn’t we just read about him becoming more mature in his faith—praying for others—believing God for a son in his old age? Why would he put the promise God made to him in jeopardy by allowing his wife to be taken into a king’s harem, yet again?

Yes, we can see a pattern with Abraham, but we can also see a pattern with God: When we take steps backward, God is always willing to take steps forward. In this case, God appeared to King Abimelech in a dream and told him that Sarah was a married woman and, in essence, that Abraham was an object of God’s special care.

The dream did not keep the king from asking Abraham a pointed question: “What have you done to us?”

Abraham made excuses: “I thought you would kill me.” “Technically, she is my half-sister.” “This all happened because God made me leave my home.”

Excuses, excuses. I know them too well when I fail to trust God. What about you?

The fact that Abraham failed to trust God is really no surprise. The surprise is the merciful way God intervened. Abraham acknowledged God’s intervention and mercy by planting a tree as a landmark of God’s grace. What a perfect symbol of the journey thus far. The longer he journeyed with God the more his faith was rooted in God’s trustworthy character.

Respond

What are some symbols you have that attest to your relationship with God as rooted and growing? Are there steps you take or can take to protect you from repeating sinful patterns?

Prayer

Lord, thank you for being a God who is faithful even when I am faithless. Your mercy and grace are amazing. Help me stand firm and trust in your power and not my own. Amen.