Are you afraid the truth of Scripture is respected only by those who acknowledge Jesus as their Lord? Do you believe cultures different from yours, philosophically, geographically, and historically, are alien to God’s influence? Do those fears affect your interactions with those who seem hostile to God?
You’re not the first person of faith to let this kind of fear influence your thoughts and actions. Abraham exhibited fear when he and his wife Sarah traveled in countries where it seemed unlikely the people and their rulers would recognize or respect the God they worshiped.
Genesis 12:10-20 records Abraham asking his wife to pose as just his sister, because he thought Egyptians had little respect for marriage and might kill him to steal her. When Pharaoh’s servants then claimed her for the royal harem, consequently Pharaoh’s entire household suffered a powerful intervention by the God of the Universe and Abraham saw Pharaoh respond in an unexpected way.
Genesis 20 records Abraham capitulating to the same fear, yet again. This time he and Sarah were in Gerar where Abimelech was king. Again, this king claimed Sarah as his wife. Again, God intervened supernaturally, but this time in Abimelech’s dreams. God saved Sarah twice, not only to preserve her as the mother of the son of God’s Promise but also from being violated.
Here’s a truth of Scripture illustrated by these two narratives:
He (Jesus) said to them, “Have you not read that He Who made them in the first place made them man and woman? It says, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and will live with his wife. The two will become one.’ So they are no longer two but one. Let no man divide what God has put together.” (Matthew 19:4-6 NLV)
Do you believe Jesus’ words are unshakable truth? Do you believe those who might never acknowledge Jesus as Lord are haunted by this truth and other truths of Scripture? Have you allowed your mind to minimize God’s tremendous power because of fear?
Abraham and Sarah found God was not only King of their tiny, tribal encampment in the midst of hostile environments, but King of all cultures. There is no land or culture where the God of Scripture isn’t sovereign. Practice acknowledging that God reigns over cultural threats you fear as you listen to this song: This is My Father’s World.
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