¹⁰ At that time a severe famine struck the land of Canaan, forcing Abram to go down to Egypt, where he lived as a foreigner. ¹¹ As he was approaching the border of Egypt, Abram said to his wife, Sarai, “Look, you are a very beautiful woman. ¹² When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife. Let’s kill him; then we can have her!’ ¹³ So please tell them you are my sister. Then they will spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you.”

¹⁴ And sure enough, when Abram arrived in Egypt, everyone noticed Sarai’s beauty. ¹⁵ When the palace officials saw her, they sang her praises to Pharaoh, their king, and Sarai was taken into his palace. ¹⁶ Then Pharaoh gave Abram many gifts because of her—sheep, goats, cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.

Genesis 12:10-16

Dear God, this is such a hard story if we stop and spend time with it. It’s easy to kind of read past, but it’s a hard story. First, you have Sarai being offered as a sacrifice by Abram so that his life might be saved. In a relationship where Abram should be her protector, he made her his protector. I cannot imagine what this must have been like for her from a trauma standpoint. It’s tragic.

Then there are the male and female servants that had no agency in the situation. They were given in exchange for this one woman to go to Pharoah. Later we will learn about an Egyptian servant of Abram’s named Hagar. Could this be how she came to be in their possession? All of this so that a man could save his own life at the expense of others.

So instead of me sitting here wondering about how Abram could possibly do this and judging him for it, I need to ask myself if I do this with my wife and children in any way. Have I put my own selfishness above them? I think at least one of my children would accuse me of putting my marriage to their mother before them. I’ve thought about it a lot, and I don’t think I agree, but it’s certainly how they feel. Is there any truth to it? Do I do anything to leave my wife vulnerable and at-risk? Am I the husband you need me to be for her? That she feels like is there to meet the needs she has for love, security, and encouragement?

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I really want to carry you into this day with me. Walk with me with my staff. Walk with me with our volunteer. Walk with me with our donors. Walk with me with our patients. Walk with me with my wife. Oh, Lord, walk with me today. Make me the man you need me to be.

I pray this through Jesus’s name, life, death, and resurrection,

Amen