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Hope for Repeat Offenders
 “But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, ‘Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife.’” Genesis 20:3

In Genesis Chapter 20 Abraham does something we do not expect. He lies again about his wife, Sarah, telling the Philistine king, Abimelech, that she is only his sister. This is surprising because he had done the same thing earlier, lying to Pharaoh, and had been rebuked for it. 

In fearfully giving over Sarah to Abimelech to save his own life, it would appear that Abraham had destroyed God’s plan for his life. God had promised that Abraham and Sarah would give birth to Isaac, the progenitor of the whole people of God. For a moment that promise seems to be impossible. Sarah will be Abimelech’s; Isaac will never be. The promise of God appears voided by Abraham’s sin. 

But God. But God’s grace is bigger than our sin. Even repeated failures like this one. God visits Abimelech in a dream and threatens him. “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife” (Gen. 20:3). 

Everything changes. Abimelech returns Sarah, untouched. He gives Abraham, not what he deserves for his deception, but livestock, servants, an invitation to live anywhere in his realm, and the equivalent of about $3 million. 

What is the moral of the story? Sin so that grace may abound? No. But this: God is bigger than our sin. His plans, his promise, his providence are so much bigger than our sin. “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom. 11:29).

We can feel discouraged and defeated when we struggle against sin and lose, yet again. But we must recognize that God is not hindered by our sin. Think about it, if our sin kept God from fulfilling his plan in our lives, we would all be lost. But his promise is more. “If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself” (2 Tim. 2:13). 

Abraham contributed only his sin to the situation. But God contributed his grace, his power, his providence, his presence. And Abraham walks away with Sarah, millions, and a heart humbled by his own failure as he is instructed to pray for Abimelech to be healed. 

The Psalmist happily declares: “The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me” (Ps.138:8). This is God’s promise to all of his people. Nothing will separate us from God’s plan, his promise, or his love. “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39) Nothing. Not even the failures of a repeat offender. 

While we rightly strive for holiness and to mortify all sin, our hope is not based upon our holiness, but his mercy. This is why we can so confidently follow and serve him. Our God leads us with his good providence. A providence that has accounted for all of our failures, past, present . . . and future. “The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me.”