Genesis 12:10-20

“Now there was a famine in the land” (Genesis 12:10). God allows trials in our lives to test and strengthen our faith (James 1:2-4).... You can be in the center of God's plan for your life and still have problems. Job's friends would have you believe otherwise, that problems only arise from sin, but we see in the lives of Job and Abraham that sometimes God allows us to experience troubles to test and grow our faith. 

“Abram went down to Egypt” (Genesis 12:10-13). We can respond to trials with compromise or with faith…. Abraham failed this test, putting his faith in his lies and in man instead of trusting God to take care of him and his family. They went to Egypt and Abraham presented Sarah as his sister instead of as his wife. She was so beautiful that he feared he would be killed so that someone else could take her as their wife. She caught the attention of Pharaoh and Abraham became wealthy because of the gifts. But disease fell upon Pharaoh and his family because of it. God protected Abraham even when Abraham messed up. 

“The LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife” (Genesis 12:17-20). God is faithful, even when we are faithless (2 Timothy 2:11-13).... Despite failing the test, Abraham came out of the test better off. God keeps His promises even when we screw up. 

“Abraham moved on from there . . . For a while he stayed in Gerar” (Genesis 20:1-14). God often repeats exams to see if we have grown…. About 20 years later and they are in a similar situation. Did Abraham learn from the first test? Nope. He messed up again, but God took care of him once again. We also see that this had become a pattern in Abraham's life. He had made a single decision early on that started this pattern and he never was able to break it. This is why it's best just to not make the decision that starts it. Even though Abraham messed up again and didn't deserve God's blessing, God still blessed him because God keeps His promises.