It seemed to start off so well. Abram was called by God to go to the land that God would show him. He trusted God, left his father’s house and obeyed the Lord. But then a famine came, and Abram was hungry. So what did he do? He did the wrong thing — he stopped trusting the Lord and went out of the Promised Land to Egypt.

Sometimes we can be like that too. Things go differently than we want, and we forget to trust in the Lord. But if we do that, we forget that the God who promised to look after us is greater than our troubles. He can help us in all things! And that’s what Abram forgot as well.

When Abram went to Egypt, he told Sarai to lie. He told her to say she was his sister instead of his wife. Abram knew that Sarai was very beautiful, and maybe he thought that if someone wanted her as a wife, they would ask him first and then they could leave quickly. We’re not sure what Abram was thinking, but we know he wasn’t trusting the Lord. It seemed that Abram’s lie worked to save his life, but his wife was taken from him.

Where was God during this time? Had he forgotten his promises to Abram? No, God never forgets his promises. And that’s why Abram should have trusted God instead of doing his own things. But when Abram got to the point when he was stuck (Sarai had been taken from him), God stepped in to remind Abram to trust him. God sent a plague so that Pharaoh gave Sarai back to Abram. Abram made a sacrifice to God to show that he was sorry for his sins.

What about us? Sometimes we forget to trust God’s promises too. God has promised to always be with us. This doesn’t mean things will always be easy, but God will always be with us and forgive us, and give us eternal life with him.

Reflection with your child:

What did Abram do wrong? Do we sometimes do the same?