Grace in Times of Failure

TODAY'S READING: Gen. 25, 26; Ps. 6; Luke 10

SCRIPTURE: Gen. 26:2-11
² The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. ³ Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. ⁴ I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, ⁵ because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws.” ⁶ So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

⁷ When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.”

⁸ When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. ⁹ So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?”

Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.”

¹⁰ Then Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”

¹¹ So Abimelech gave orders to all the people: “Anyone who molests this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

OBSERVATION: Isaac hears directly from the Lord and receives from him a promise of blessing that will extend way past his own lifetime. Yet just after such a momentous spiritual encounter with God, he asks his wife to lie to the people around them about who she is in relation to him because he fears for his life. Isn't that amazing? He doesn't have the faith to believe that the same God who gave this great promise is able to protect him in his immediate circumstances. Yet despite his lack of faith, God protects him anyway. The Lord exposes the lie Isaac tries to use to protect himself and moves the king of the land to issue an edict that will ensure Isaac will remain unmolested by the people of the land.

APPLICATION: This is a real encouragement to me. Although I strive to always trust the Lord, I, like Isaac, fall short of that goal at times. I am reassured by this passage that even when I fall short, God is looking out for me. He will protect me even when I am imperfect in my devotion to and faith in him.

PRAYER: Thank you, Lord, for your great grace! Thank you that you take care of me even when I fail you. I pray that my faith does not fail and that it will continue to grow. But it is so reassuring that you do not require perfection from me and that I need not fear that you will abandon me when I falter. You are patient with me. Thank you so much! I love you, Lord. In Jesus' Name, Amen.