# 175 He Is Our Shield

The Book of Genesis

Day 175

Ge 20:1 And Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar. 2 Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, "Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife."

Abraham picks up stakes and moves about 40 miles to the west near a Philistine city known as Gerar. Once again he finds himself in the presence of a king, a man of power like Pharaoh. (See Gen 12:10-20) And once again he tries to palm Sarah off as his sister. Once again we see the frailty of humanity in Abraham, and once again we see a societal conditioned response triggered by fear.

This mountain of a faithful man struggles in this area of trusting God for his safety in the midst of a powerful ruler. He struggled with Pharaoh and now he struggles with Abimelech! Why does he struggle so? Did he not learn from the incident with Pharaoh that God has his back?

I think the answer to that question goes back to the original call of God to Abraham to leave his comfortable surroundings and head to parts unknown.  He evidently anticipated this kind of a problem arising before he left  and he worked it out with Sarah that she would say she was his sister. In so doing, these rulers would not kill Abraham (as was their custom) in order to take his wife.  (See Gen 20:13)

Abraham had this idea in his head all along his journey. This was his plan B. He would follow God, but he needed some backup plans in case things got a little hairy. We often do the same thing! We follow God, but only after we have developed our own contingency plans to bail us out. Once they are in place, we feel we can move forward with confidence.  It’s not easy to let go of our little safety nets.

Don’t get me wrong, we don’t want to be foolhardy, but at some point in our journey of being a fully devoted follower of Jesus, we are going to have to trust God! Abraham was trusting in his puny little safety net (plan B) in his encounter with Abimelech, and God shows him how puny it is, as He appears to Abimelech in a dream: “Indeed, you are a dead man because of the woman you have taken, for she is a man’s wife!”  “You are a dead man?????” Ooooh! Now that’s a safety net!

Here’s the thing. Once we are certain that we have heard from God, and we step out in faith, we just need to trust in God that our needs will be met.  He is our shield! He was Abraham’s shield but evidently he had forgotten the episode with Pharaoh and the promise of God in Ge 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."

We need to be reminded often that God has our front and back and here’s a couple more verses to help us in that regard:

 Ps 28:7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him.

 Pr 30:5 Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.

May God give us all the courage, confidence, strength, and faith we need for whatever comes our way today!