Fear was his downfall. Abraham, the father of the faith – a spiritual giant– messed up. Big time.

This is Abraham’s E! True Hollywood Story – according to the Bible.

It’s a long story, and you can read it for yourself in Genesis 12:10-20. But the short version is that it all boils down to fear.

Understand this:

Faith and fear cannot co-exist.

Faith trusts in God. But fear pushes out faith and we begin taking our lives into our own hands.

Abraham stopped trusting God and came up with his own game plan. Not surprisingly, things went horribly wrong. Yet, God remained in control. You see, God had a plan for Abraham, so He intervened.

SOUND FAMILIAR?

When things become challenging, and we can’t see a clear solution, we stop acting out of faith and act out of fear. We begin to handle things our own way. We give in to fear and worry, allowing our self-preservation instincts to kick in.

However, in spite of Abraham’s failure, his story should give us great hope because we all struggle. We all fall short, missing the mark of God’s best for our lives. Yet God still used Abraham. 

In the same way, God can use you. God can use me. He can use all of us in spite of our weaknesses and in spite of our failures. Because “God works for the good of those who love Him,” He still intervenes. But first, we have to confess our sins and failure to God. It begins with seeking God’s forgiveness.

In what areas of your life do you need to come back to God? Where have you begun living from fear rather than faith?

Change directions, return to God, and hold onto the hope we find in Abraham’s story: that our God is the God of second chances.

Written by Bryant Wright, Founder, RFTH