"Clean up on aisle 20." When we make choices outside God's will, we experience consequences and so do others. Who cleans up our messes? How do we get back to normal? My friend who is a High School principal says about the crazy decisions people make, "Remember their best thinking got them to this place." Good point!
Abraham's choice to hide from Abimelek that Sarah was his wife caused a lot of problems. When Abimelek confronted him, Abraham had an explanation: I lied because it was a matter of life and death, and Sarah really is my sister.
As an act of penance, Abimelek brought Abraham gifts and gave Sarah a thousand shekels of silver. Then Abraham prayed for Abimelek and his family's health was restored. God's providence often protects us when our own folly does not. Again and again, God protected Abraham from his own mistakes and the mistakes of others. In the same way, God has protected us when we have made reckless choices.
We are tempted to say, "All's well that ends well." "No harm, no foul," say the players in a pickup basketball game. When we fail to trust God how does it affect our souls? Truly, the world we live in does not always fear God. The people who live here are watching to see if we do.
