God knows my heart

 

And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. 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.” Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people? Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.” Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her. Now then, return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.” (Genesis 20:2–7)

God’s man is in foreign territory and fearful for his life. He told the king of that place that Sarah was his sister and the king took her, only to be told by God she was Abraham’s wife. The king pleaded ignorance and God already knew this so he spared him. Not only that, He protected Sarah from his advances and told the king to return her or he would suffer the consequences.

Such is the love and power of God. Abraham was far from perfect and usually trusted God, but this time he took matters into his own hands and could have lost his wife and his life. Yet God intervened based on His knowledge of this king’s heart. He prevented Abimelech from even touching her. 

If I were in a position of power, listening to the politicians and other people of influence would make me want to take matters into my own hands at times also. Even the sins of those I know are enough to get a rise out of me. But I don’t know their hearts. This is not an excuse to do nothing, but it is a reason to pray for them, like Abraham prayed for the king so he would live. 

Two people come to mind. One uses aches and pains to gain attention. The other gets horribly upset and snarky over the most trivial things. They don’t know God — and I don’t know  their life issues or the stresses they endure. I know that they need Jesus, yet even then, Christians struggle when life puts them in fear and they try to fix it themselves. I’ve done it too.

Jesus, this story has a lesson for me: Don’t jump to conclusions when others do the wrong thing. In this case, the king did what he thought was okay. I’ve gone that route myself. When corrected, he pleaded innocence “in the integrity of his heart” and God knew this was true. You know my heart also. Enable me to always match the inner person and the outward actions, without pretense or excuses, always remembering that You know my heart.