God is Light, Though Our Minds Are Dark
“And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of
God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake.” --Gen. 20:11
Abraham in his wanderings had
come to Gerar, which was ruled by the king Abimelech. Because Abraham was afraid he would be murdered for his wife
Sarah, he told her to say that she was his sister. “The fear of God is not in this place,” he thought to himself.
As much emphasis that the
Bible gives to faith, it nowhere limits God's activities to our faith, nor is
there the slightest indication that He limits Himself to our faith. Although very often God will use faith as a
means of blessing, and punish those who do not believe, yet He cannot deny
Himself. He does not lose strength
because we do not believe. His
existence and work are not components of our consciousness. No Cartesian He.
Although the fear of God was
not in Gerar, yet God was in Gerar.
Even though Abimelech intended to take Sarah, yet God appeared to him in
a dream and told him he was as good as a dead man because of her. When Abimelech protested that he thought she
was Abraham's sister, God said, “I know that thou didst this in the integrity
of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore
suffered I thee not to touch her.”
(Gen. 20:3-6)
How wonderful the ways of
God! It wasn't because of the faith of
men, the honesty of men, or the knowledge of men, but because of the wonderful
mystery of God's perfect will and power that Sarah was preserved in Gerar. Abraham was called, sanctified, blessed,
and preserved by the election and powerful working of God. God does not work according to our faith and
knowledge; we believe and know because of His powerful work.