Genesis 12: Fear and Faith

God called Abram to leave everyone and everything he knew for the unknown—an unknown land and unknown people. But God promised to bless him and to bless others through him. So Abram did it—he risked leaving the known for the unknown, just because God asked. That risk took faith.

But when a famine hit this new land, Canaan, Abram and Sarai fled to Egypt. And there in another unknown land with unknown people, Abram’s fear surfaced. Because his wife was so beautiful, he feared the Egyptians would kill him and take her. So he lied, saying she was his sister. He even allowed her to go into the Pharaoh’s palace without him. But God intervened, sending plagues upon the Pharaoh’s house until Sarai left.

Faith and fear. Abram had both. He struggled with his fear, even as a man of faith. And when he followed his fears, others suffered. The way of faith brings blessing. The way of fear brings pain.