"Faith" Man?

Abraham moved south to the Negev and lived for a while between Kadesh and Shur, and then he moved on to Gerar. While living there as a foreigner, Abraham introduced his wife, Sarah, by saying, “She is my sister.” So King Abimelech of Gerar sent for Sarah and had her brought to him at his palace. [Genesis 20.1-2]

I suppose Abraham can be seen as a man of faith in this... But really, I don't know how!

By this time, God had clearly made known to Abraham that he and Sarah would have a son. So, if Abraham and Sarah are "trying to get pregnant," in what scenario is letting Abimelech take Sarah as his wife going to work out for Abraham and Sarah "believing God" for a child of their own?

In my view, there was absolutely and positively no way Abraham was exercising faith in this situation. By his own confession, he was merely trying to preserve his own life. It would seem to me that Abraham had thoroughly fallen off the faith wagon and had become focused on saving his own neck!

It might be beneficial to consider the timing of these events. We know in Genesis 18.10 the angel said he would be back in about a year and Sarah would have a son. We can then take Genesis 21.1-2 (where Sarah is said to have had a son) and subtract approximately 9 months for pregnancy to see about when all this happened with Abimelech. Based on the record of the Bible, this situation with Abimelech took place within around three months after the angels met with Abraham and Sarah!

The lessons here are abundant. But one thing stands out to me as important. Even in what appears to be a moment of no faith whatsoever by Abraham and Sarah, God showed mercy by stepping in and confronting Abimelech.

Abraham is forever known as the Father of Faith. But man, he sure came close to blowing it. If the deal with Hagar wasn't enough, this event with Abimelech could have changed all history!

Father, I have no real idea what the takeaway from this lesson really is. There are so many things that Abraham appears to have done wrong that it is hard to see how in the world he would ever attain to the faith-status he is given in Bible history.