When the famine hit, Abraham went down to Egypt. And once he got there, fear took over.
Genesis 12:11-13 says,
“And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon: Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.”
Abraham got scared. Instead of trusting God to protect him, he made up a lie. He told Sarah to say she was his sister instead of his wife. He thought it would save his life, but lying only made things worse.
Fear can make us do some foolish things. Even after trusting God enough to leave his home, Abraham still struggled when things got scary. And we do too. When we’re afraid, it’s easy to lean on our ideas instead of God’s promises.
The Bible says in 2 Timothy 1:7,
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
Fear doesn’t come from God. Fear makes us forget who’s in charge. Fear makes us think we have to fix everything ourselves. But God says He’s the One who protects us. He’s the One who fights for us.
Even though Abraham failed here, God didn’t throw him away. God protected Sarah anyway. God showed mercy to Abraham, even when he didn’t deserve it. That’s the amazing thing about God’s grace — He doesn’t just help us when we get it all right. He helps us even when we mess it all up.
And all of this points straight to Jesus.
John 10:28-29 says,
“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”
Jesus is our Protector. He holds us safe in His hand. No fear, no enemy, no mistake is strong enough to pull us away from His love.
Abraham’s fear in Egypt reminds us that even faithful people can fall into fear. But it also reminds us that God is bigger than our fears. We don’t have to lie, cheat, or run when trouble comes. We have a Savior who stands between us and the danger, and He’s never lost a battle yet.
