Observation: Abram and Sarai Immigrate to Egypt because there is a famine in their own country. What Abram does seems ill-advised to me. He's worried about being killed, and having his wife Sarai stolen by the Egyptians. So he tells people she's his sister, which leads to Pharaoh marrying Sarai, and God sends a plague in retribution, and Abram and Sarai end up getting kicked out of Egypt when Pharaoh finds out the truth. To me it seems like Abram panicked and ruined a potentially good situation. But then, I've never had to pick up and go to a foreign country because of famine. In the ancient world, this happened often.
Application: One take-away I get from this is to just be honest and trust in God. God had already promised land to Abram's offspring. Why would God do that if Abram was about to get murdered in Egypt?
But another takeaway I get is that God's command to "welcome the stranger" comes right out of Abram's and Sarai's experience. God's people know what it's like to be immigrants, to have to leave home for an unfamiliar place, and hide a part of themselves for fear of rejection or worse. God's people are called to have compassion for immigrants because we all were immigrants once--even Abram and Sarai.
Prayer: God, remind me of my immigrant roots, and help me reach out in love to those new to my community and my country. Amen.
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