Throughout the story of Abraham, I am astonished by both the strength and lack of faith. In the encounter with Abimelech, Abraham yet again has Sarah pretend to be his sister. After the first time, I would have thought he would be more contrite. On the contrary, the first time, Pharaoh let him leave with "all he had" (12:20). He makes money off of this scheme! With Abimelech, he gets a thousand pieces of silver. What baffles me is that God continues to bless him, and listens to his prayers to heal Abimelech. Why? This scheme seems deceitful. Abraham did not trust that God would bring him to the land He promised, without requiring deceit. These two scenes seem like a lack of trust in the same God that he left everything to follow. While everyone has flaws, it seems to me that Abraham's greatest strength, was also his greatest weakness.
"Abraham believed the Lord, and it was counted to him as righteousness" Genesis 15:6
"By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance" (Hebrews 11:8)
P.S. I commented on Tori Paris's post :)
I totally agree that Abraham's strength was also his weakness. It also reminds me of how Odysseus also continued to make stupid mistakes, yet he continued to be blessed by the gods.
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