God's Wise Protection

God makes some pretty wild promises to Abraham - to give him descendants as numerous as the sand on the seashore or the stars in the sky, to give him a vast and expansive homeland that is currently occupied by other peoples. To bless the entire world through him. 

And Abraham, like so many of us, thinks that this is good, but that God might need a little help. 

When Abraham arrives in a foreign land, in a land that God has shown him and led him to, he tells his wife to tell everyone she's his sister. That way, when they see how beautiful she is, they won't kill him just so they can have her. After all, if these foreign peoples kill Abraham, then all of God's promises to him are null. Aren't they? Dying in a land that God has promised him is not part of the plan; Abraham's lie will make sure it doesn't accidentally happen. 

But the peoples of the land find out that Abraham has lied to them, and they have one question: why? Why, when we look at your incredibly blessed life, would you have any reason to lie to us? Why would you think, with all your riches and the goodness that surrounds you, would you do a wicked thing? Yes, Abraham - a wicked thing. 

Then Abraham discovers that the peoples of this foreign land are favorable to him, not adversarial. God has not only brought him here, but He has created a place for him here. God already put in motion the stirring of the hearts of these peoples to protect Abraham. God already constructed a hedge of protection around him. 

The lie...wasn't necessary. God's got this. 

Sometimes, we're tempted to think that God's plan is going to need a little help, that we're going to have to use our human wiles to manipulate our way through. After all, aren't we the ones who know how the world works? 

Maybe. But God is the One who knows how He works, and He's already got this. His hedge of protection is far better than anything we could plant ourselves. 

All we have to do is trust that the God who brought us here has already planned for what we might encounter, and as much as we trusted Him to get us this far, we must trust Him to settle us safely in this new place.