It would have been wonderful if he had remained where the Lord had appeared to him but instead he gradually drifted downward toward the south. It wasn't long before he began to get hungry because of a famine. This means that the life and enjoyment of the Lord that Abram had before was gone. This lead to his going into Egypt, which in the Bible signifies the world, to satisfy his hunger.
In Egypt Abram was afraid to tell people that Sarai was his wife. He considered that she was so beautiful that someone might kill him to get her. He even accepted a dowery from Pharaoh for her. In a sense he had sold his wife to be a part of Pharaoh's harem. It seemed like his faith in God was all gone.
God would never agree that Sarai would be sold. Abram had no way to eventually have a descendant according to God's promise without her. So God caused Pharaoh and all his household to get very sick. Thus He protected her when Abram was afraid to.
The experience in Egypt should have produced two main effects on Abram. The first is that he must have been humiliated by Pharaoh's scolding. Even riches of the dowery, which he kept, would have reminded him of his shameful failure. The other effect would have been that he learned a little more of how the Lord was caring for him even when he wasn't trusting Him. Thus he came back both chastened and strengthened in his faith.
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