Daddy's Little Girl - Part 3

Daddy’s Little Girl – Part 3

Good Morning, and praise the Lord.  Continuing with this series, please turn with me to Genesis chapter 20.

Genesis 20

And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar. 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, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife. But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation? Said he not unto me, she is my sister? And she, even she herself said, he is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this. And God said unto him in a dream, yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her. Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine. Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid. Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, what hast thou done unto us? And what have I offended thee that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? Thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, what sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing? And Abraham said, because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake. And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, this is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, he is my brother. And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and women servants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife.  And Abimelech said, behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee. And unto Sarah he said, behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved. So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bear children.  For the Lord had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.

So Abraham and Sarah were on their way to a new location, and when they arrived to their new home, they met Abimelech, the king of Gerar.  Now Abraham came up with the brilliant idea to tell him that Sarah was his sister.  You see, his wife was absolutely gorgeous, and he had an irrational fear that he would be killed, and his wife taken from him, so he lied to cover himself.

I want you to notice something here, sisters, because here’s the deal.  Can I be real for a moment?  If a man has to be dishonest about his relationship with you to others in order to protect himself, he’s not the one.  Has anyone ever experienced this?

Of course, Abimelech sent for Sarah, and had her brought to the palace.  She was put in one of the chambers for the time being.  God stepped in to protect Sarah from being taken by the king or anyone else in the region.  He appeared to Abimelech in a dream and said that he and everyone else was about to die, because Sarah belonged to Abraham.

The king hadn’t laid a hand on her, and he pleaded with the Lord not to destroy him and all his people because of Abraham’s lie.  The kingdom was about to suffer all because of Abraham not being truthful about his wife, and not trusting God enough to go forth.  So as the story goes, God healed the people, and Abimelech confronted Abraham, and asked him why he lied about Sarah, and gave them gifts, and sent them on their way.

Now watch this, because I want you to get this.  There are two schools of thought here.  First of all, we all know that the word of God says that when a man leaves his father and mother, he is supposed to cleave to his wife, and they become one flesh.  What does that mean?  Simply put, kiss your parents goodbye, and go to your own house with your own spouse and live long and prosper.

The husband is charged with loving his wife, and protecting her as the weaker vessel.  I know that there are some women who can bench press 500 pounds like the guys, but that’s a rarity.  Anyway, the problem with society is that boys aren’t able to grow into men because either the father isn’t in the home for whatever reason, either through a breakup, jail, divorce or death, or that leaves the mother to raise her sons alone.

Now please understand that I’m not saying that single moms shouldn’t get their props for doing the job of two parents, however here’s a disclaimer, and please don’t throw tomatoes at me, because it’s the truth anyhow.  Women are not designed to do a man’s job.  I know I can hear the collective gasps.  You can call me later to argue if you want to, but a mother doesn’t deserve the accolades on Father’s Day.  I’m sorry, ladies, but we already have a day where we’re honored.  Let the guys have their day, please!

There is a reason why God created us from the rib, and not the head or the feet.  We are to stand beside our men, tall and proud, and providing loving support of them, just like they are to do for us.  This was Abraham’s mistake.  He didn’t man up to protect his wife.

Why not?  Let’s look at present day.  Men are being torn down, talked about, abused and in some cases neglected.  I’m not saying that this is what happened with him, but sisters, can we talk?  We are to be help meets to our husbands.  There can’t be two heads of a household.  That isn’t the divine order of things.

If you are a wife, consider this; take an equal partnership of the household and marriage when you can, but know that God holds your husband accountable, and at the end of the day if you can’t come to an agreement about an issue, he has to make the decision, and you have to back him, even if you don’t agree.  I believe this is what happened with Abraham and Sarah.

He was afraid of what happened if he told the truth, and convinced himself that the Lord wouldn’t protect him against Abimelech and his people.  That was the first mistake.  The second was to lie about his relationship with his wife, and he made excuses when it blew up in his face when confronted.

Thank God he didn’t live in this time period, because I can hear Sarah’s girls dogging the man out.  Can you imagine them saying, “…girl, you let that man put you in danger, and had the king snatch you up so he could get at you?  If it were me, I would jack him up!”

Even though there is safety in the multitude of counselors, I promise you that you don’t always need the peanut gallery in your ears, ladies.  If you have sons, and had to raise them alone, please make sure that they have some godly male role models, beginning with the Lord Jesus Christ, because you will need all the help you can get.  Also, it’s your job to protect them as they cross the street to manhood, but you can’t shield them from absolutely everything.  They have to learn some things on their own.  When you no longer have an authoritative role in their lives, cover them in prayer, and let them go.

When they find that special someone, and want to get married to the woman of their dreams, fight the urge to offer unsolicited advice.  I have made that mistake, and it was costly.  Don’t blame the girl, blame yourself, because you don’t want to let your baby go.  I speak from experience, ladies, so ask the Lord to help you to know your place and let your baby be a man.

If you don’t, they won’t want to share anything with you, because you’re being extra and causing drama that you’ll be crying in the ashes about later on.  Also, get it in your head that you, yes you in the back there, can’t teach your male child how to be a man.  Only God, their father if they’re in the picture, and other men can teach him the proper way to deal with the challenges that only men face.  You are a WOMAN.  How about you teach your daughters to not go through and make the mistakes that you’ve made.

At the end of the day, you will need to look in the mirror and take a good hard look at yourself, in the past, in the present, and ask the Lord to prepare you for the future.  You have to be honest with yourself, and allow God to show you the error of your ways.  Repent and move on.  Don’t hold onto it, because you will become stagnant, and feel sorry for yourself.  Don’t cry and lament over it, because you can’t change it.

We are fearfully and wonderfully made by the Creator, and don’t you ever forget it.  Yes, Abraham may have dropped the ball, but as Daddy’s little girl, know that the Lord always picks up the pieces, and carries us when we can’t take another step.  May the Lord bless you as you walk this journey.  See you tomorrow, God willing.