SHE IS MY SISTER - Genesis 20:2
Genesis 20:2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.
This is the second time that Abraham calls Sarah his sister instead of calling her his wife. Apparently Abraham was once again afraid that he would be killed for Sarah’s sake. Sarah is ninety years old, yet Abraham is afraid that someone is going to kill him so that they can marry Sarah.
Furthermore, Abraham had recently spoken with God and God had promised him a son born of Sarah. God had not told Abraham this once, but had in fact shown it to him twice in a short period of time. However, despite hearing the voice of God that he was going to have a son in less than a year, Abraham fears for his life and lies in order to protect himself. Why Abraham fears that he must protect himself when he has had in the past a standing army of over 300 men is a little unclear?
The actions of Abraham of calling his wife his sister are an example to us of just how easy it is to slide into the pit of sin. Abraham was having personal contact with God and as soon as Abraham perceives that things could get out of control, he reverts to his old ways and starts to lie.
Abraham did not need to lie. Greater was HE that was directing him then any king. Abraham was obeying God in sojourning in the land; since Abraham was in the center of the will of God, surely God would protect him. However, in a moment of fear, Abraham lost focus of what God desired him to do and as such, Abraham started acting like the world.
The fear of Abraham seems illogical; however it was real to Abraham. While we can look back at the situation of Abraham and see how Abraham lacked faith; all of us have sinned and shown the same lack of faith at some point in our lives. It does not take much for Satan to take our eyes off of the promises of God and focus them upon ourselves where we then are weak in our faith. All Satan had to do was show Abimelech looking at Sarah and then later show Abimelech whispering to some of his armed men while looking at Abraham and Sarah; Abraham’s imagination would do the rest.
It was at this moment that Abraham needed to take captive the evil thoughts that he might be killed for his wife. Abraham had been promised by God to have a son in less than a year. When Abraham started thinking about his immediate death, he allowed his focus to stray from the promises of God and thus he was able to sin and lie in order to protect his own skin.
We need to be slow to act upon the imaginations of our mind. Just because our mind imagines something, it does not mean that it is something that will happen in the future or that it is of God. We must diligently add temperance to our actions. We must control our thoughts so that we are not making irrational decisions based upon faulty data as Abraham did in this passage.
Your mind can very quickly play tricks with you if you will allow it. You need to remember what the promises of God are for your life and keep them in the center of your thoughts. When Satan tries to distract you, take the time to pray and ask God to keep your focus upon HIM and HIS promises. It will be a major battle for your mind, but greater is HE that is in you than HE that is of this world. You do not have to yield to the temptations to lie, cheat, or steal in order to get out of a difficult decision.