Was this the favorite cognitive distortion of the “father of faith”?

The greatest source of trouble you will face in your lifetime is your own thinking.

What you think, and how you think, will help you or hurt you because it will either be rational or irrational.

Most people struggle, to some degree, with patterns or habits of thinking commonly known as cognitive distortions (I identify the top 10 cognitive distortions in a blog post here). Developing a pattern or habit of irrational thinking can cause a lot of trouble for you AND for others.

Let’s look at an example from the Bible.

In Genesis, we see an example of the cognitive distortion known as “fortune telling” as acted out in the life of Abraham, who is often referred to as the “father of faith.” Not only do we see this faulty thinking of “fortune telling” in one instance in scripture, the Bible actually records the same cognitive distortion causing problems for Abraham AND others on two occasions. That may be a hint that fortune telling was a cognitive distortion Abraham struggled with.

The first instance of fortune telling is captured in Genesis 12:10-13:

“At that time a severe famine struck the land of Canaan, forcing Abram to go down to Egypt, where he lived as a foreigner. As he was approaching the border of Egypt, Abram said to his wife, Sarai, ‘Look, you are a very beautiful woman. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, “This is his wife. Let’s kill him; then we can have her!” So please tell them you are my sister. Then they will spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you.'”

We’re more prone to give in to the temptation of fortune telling when we foster fear with a sliver of truth, which is what Abraham did. What he foretold to himself in his mind had just a sliver of rationale, but he allowed that to fan the flames of fear rather than faith:

“And sure enough, when Abram arrived in Egypt, everyone noticed Sarai’s beauty,” Genesis 12:14.

Abraham’s fear that that would happen motivated him to lie, and to push his wife, Sarai, to lie as well. That lie led Pharaoh to think Sarai was a single woman, and so he acted like she was:

“When the palace officials saw her, they sang her praises to Pharaoh, their king, and Sarai was taken into his palace. Then Pharaoh gave Abram many gifts because of her — sheep, goats, cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels,” Genesis 12:15-16.

Abraham thought his lie would keep him (and Sarai) safe, but instead it resulted in Pharaoh taking Sarai for himself. God wasn’t pleased with such sin:

“But the Lord sent terrible plagues upon Pharaoh and his household because of Sarai, Abram’s wife,” Genesis 12:17.

Pharaoh blamed Abraham’s lie — fostered from the cognitive distortion of fortune telling that was fueled by fear — for this great trouble and quickly booted him out of the country:

“So Pharaoh summoned Abram and accused him sharply. ‘What have you done to me?’ he demanded. ‘Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, “She is my sister,” and allow me to take her as my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and get out of here!’ Pharaoh ordered some of his men to escort them, and he sent Abram out of the country, along with his wife and all his possessions,” Genesis 12:18-20.

Abraham’s faulty thinking (cognitive distortion) only fostered fear, which led him to lie and the outcome was trouble for himself and Pharaoh.

But Abraham did not learn his lesson from all that trouble, he would do the exact same thing again with a different king in a different country:

“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.

One irrational thought can cause a lot of trouble, but patterns and habits of cognitive distortions can wreck a life. In this second telling of Abraham’s faulty thinking, it just about ended the king’s life:

“But that night God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, ‘You are a dead man, for that woman you have taken is already married!'” Genesis 20:3.

You can read in Genesis 20:4-7 how Abimelech was spared his life. But the next morning, the king would lecture Abraham on the trouble he caused:

“Abimelech got up early the next morning and quickly called all his servants together. When he told them what had happened, his men were terrified. Then Abimelech called for Abraham. ‘What have you done to us?’ he demanded. ‘What crime have I committed that deserves treatment like this, making me and my kingdom guilty of this great sin? No one should ever do what you have done! Whatever possessed you to do such a thing?'” Genesis 20:8-10.

Notice in Abraham’s response how the act of “fortune telling” is plainly revealed:

“Abraham replied, ‘I thought, “This is a godless place. They will want my wife and will kill me to get her.” And she really is my sister, for we both have the same father, but different mothers. And I married her. When God called me to leave my father’s home and to travel from place to place, I told her, “Do me a favor. Wherever we go, tell the people that I am your brother,”‘” Genesis 20:11-13.

In the first instance, Abraham was right in thinking people would notice Sarai because she was so beautiful. But instead of trusting God to protect them from any danger that may cause them, he concocted a dangerous scenario in his head that nurtured the need for him to try to handle it himself through lying and provoking his wife to lie. The outcome was trouble for everyone.

The same thing happens in our lives when we give in to cognitive distortions — they only cause trouble (often sin) for ourselves AND for others.

If, like Abraham, you struggle with any kind of pattern or habit of irrational thinking, let me encourage you to see a competent Christian counselor to help you identify the irrational patterns in your life and effective ways to rid yourself of them.

Scotty