To be a blessing?

Well, as I’ve mentioned before, even the godly people in the Bible aren’t perfect, and Abram proves this in spades here.

Because of a famine, Abram and his wife go to Egypt and stay there, but Abram is so lacking in faith in God and his protection, that he tells his wife, “Don’t tell anyone you’re married to me. Tell them I’m your brother.”

(This was technically true. They had the same father, but different mothers).

The result: Pharaoh (Quick! Look away and see if you can spell Pharaoh) takes Sarai to be his wife.

Can you imagine what Sarai was thinking? “What in the world kind of husband do I have, anyway?” What was Abram thinking? And I mean before and after Sarai was taken away from him.

Anyway, by not trusting God, Abram got some temporary blessings (sheep, cattle, donkeys, servants, camels, etc) from Pharaoh.

But in the end, instead of being a blessing to Pharaoh, Abram ends up being a curse to him, with Pharaoh and his household getting struck with serious diseases.

Abram gets his wife back, but gets chased out of the country too.

Abram learned his lesson so well, he did the same thing years later. He goes to a place called Gerar, calls Sarah his sister, and she gets taken away from him by the king, Abimelech.

Sarah must have been thinking, “Not again! I can’t believe my husband!”

So once again, Abram ends up being a curse to the king (not to mention Sarah—can you imagine being put through this twice?), as God warns Abimelech to return Abram’s wife lest he and his family die.

Pharaoh and the king of Gerar had similar responses:

What have you done to me?

Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? (Genesis 12:18–19)

What have you done to us?

How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom?

You have done things that should not be done. What was your reason for this? (Genesis 20:9–10)

What was Abram’s answer? “Well, I knew you were ungodly people that would kill me and steal my wife, so I lied. Besides, it wasn’t really a lie.” (Genesis 20:11–13)

What do you think Pharaoh’s and Abimelech’s response to that was? “Oh, I really want to get to know your God now! Your words and actions make him look so attractive to me!”

No way. They were probably thinking to themselves, “I’m more righteous than Abram. And look at what curses he brought on my life!”

It’s easy to criticize Abram. But how often can people say the same thing about me? How often am I a curse to the people around me, rather than a blessing? How often am I a curse to my wife? To my coworkers? To my friends? To my neighbors?

I’d seriously hate to know the answers to those questions.

Lord, forgive me for the times I’ve failed to trust you, and did things my way. Forgive me for those times when I’ve been a curse to the people around me rather than a blessing.

God, I want others to be attracted to you because of me. Show me where I need to change. And give me the strength to change.

In Jesus’ name, amen.