Genesis 20 + Psalm 16
Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’”
Genesis 20:11
How often do we do things because we think? Does what we think ignore what God wants? Do our assumptions lead us astray? Abraham does because he thought, and he ignores God because of what he thinks, and what he thinks leads him to mistrust both God and the king, Abimelech. He assumes that he knows best and ends up being completely wrong!
Abraham lied to Abimelech, saying that Sarah is his sister, not his wife. He acted out of a fear of man rather than fear of God and yet blamed the reason for lying on someone else not fearing God! This all begs the question of whether our thoughts appeal more towards men or towards God? And where is the boundary of doing what we think and being led towards righteousness rather than being led astray? I can think of many times where I have done what I thought only to explain later that I thought it was the right thing, which implies that it was the wrong thing! Will MORE thoughtfulness lead to better actions? I feel called to be more diligent in my actions by scouring God's word for direction. We have so many resources at our fingertips (the Bible, AI, GotQuestions) where we can just put in the question and get guidance from greater wisdom.
God is truth; He cannot lie. If we are ever looking for direction and truth, then we must look to His word because He is the only one who can give us truth. Our thoughts will mislead us, and we will lie to ourselves. We may not like what His word always has to say, but we can always trust His word to be truthful.
I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
Psalm 16:7-8
The one whose trust is in the Lord is the same one who blesses the Lord. I believe that we often think about God blessing us but don’t often think about blessing Him in return. We bless Him with trust that goes beyond our understanding. We bless Him by sharing the truth in love with people, through our obedience, through our prayer, and through our fear of God. we bless God when our trust overrides what we think.
