Then Abimelech took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him. And Abimelech said, “See, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” Then to Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver..." (Gen 20,14-16)

We know that Abraham did not behave in an exemplary manner, yet he emerged victorious from the situation. It is amazing to see how God's people are carried higher by sheer grace even when they are not excelling in God's way! But something must be added to this: Abraham's guilt here did not consist in throwing himself into some excess or sin. It was not a calculated act, a premeditated decision. It was far more a weakness of faith, a failure to stand the test, which was greater at that moment than how far his faith had grown. God has great grace for such.

In the end, the whole episode brought him, as it had once done in Egypt, riches - "oxen, cattle, slaves, and maidservants" and "a thousand shekels of silver." But more importantly, the incident brought him closer to Abimelech. He offered to let him settle anywhere in his land - meaning that Abraham would now be under his protection, seen as his own, not a foreigner. Now he no longer has to feel any fear here!

This protection was actually the most precious thing to him. For it is in this land that, a few months later, the most desired moment of his life will occur and his son, Isaac, will be born.

God uses even our weaknesses and mistakes to build something precious, something valuable. Corrie ten Boom recalls how one mission tour took her to Asian countries. But she had great difficulty remembering the faces of the locals; they all looked the same to her, as they do to many Europeans. So it happened that she approached a person in confidence whom she thought was her helper from the local church, but she was wrong; he was a stranger and even a non-believer who did not react well at that moment. She was ashamed of her faux pas - until she found out later that because of her mistake, the man had found himself in her congregation and eventually turned to Christ.