He is my Lot in Life.
When Lot left with Abraham to the land of Canaan, it does not mention that Lot had much. He had came to Haran with Terah, Abram’s father. Abram left with his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot and all his wealth (Genesis 12:4). As Lot left Haran with Abram, under this covenant that the Lord was making with Abram to give the land to Abram and his descendants, he prospered immensely. He became so wealthy that it was too much for the land to bear and creating problems with the herdsmen. Because of this, Abram suggested that they part ways as conflict was arising. Lot chose an incredible piece of land that was fertile and well-watered.
So what happened? Lot started out with tons of wealth, herdsmen and the most fertile land because he had gone with Abram and was supporting him in fulfilling God’s purposes for his life. But, later, after living among people that were extremely wicked, he ended with living in a mountain cave, getting drunk, having no wife or wealth, and his daughters sleeping with him to get pregnant and have children.
Abram, on the other hand, followed God’s direction and purpose out of his love for God. He moved to Hebron and built an altar to the Lord. Abram continued to prosper and be blessed. Meanwhile he heard a year later that in a battle of kings in the area, Lot and all he had were taken captive. Abram heard of his plight from some of the herdsmen who got away and came after them and set Lot free.
But after setting Lot free, things just became worse for him. He went back to his land and while he married somewhere along the way, he seemed to have lost along the way his herdsmen and flock. When he left, running out of the land, it was only with his immediate family. Then his wife was lost as a pillar of salt as she directly disobeyed God and looked back.
Fear had overtook Lot and so he settled in a “small place” called Zoar, only to become overwhelmed with fear and then he and his two daughters, moved into the mountains where they were isolated and alone. His daughters felt hopeless and got him drunk to have their own children and he wasn’t even coherent enough to know about it.
So here are some things to glean from this story:
+ Know what God is doing and be in the midst of it. God has a bigger story that He is working out in our generation. We are blessed when we find what it is and ask God for our place in the story.
+ Worship the Lord and no other. Abram built an altar in every place that he settled for a time. It was the first thing he did. I imagine building altars was not easy or effortless in that time. But he took the time and made it a priority. What are we building and putting first?
+ Have reverence and obey the Lord. Abram had great reverence for the Lord and obeyed Him. He listened to leave the land that he was comfortable in and launch out to Canaan because of his relationship with God, obedience and trust.
+ Build your routines wisely. Abram had built a routine around praying and worshipping the Lord. Our routines can hinder or help us. When we build our lives around the Lord, we are never sorry or regretful on how we spent our lives.
+ Pray regularly in a conversation with God. Abram prayed regularly and frequently, expecting to hear from God when he did. Abram not only made proclamations before God or asked God for things, but he talked with God, understood His heart and influenced God because of it. When is the last time you walked up, told someone all that you wanted from them and walked away without even hearing from them that you had any kind of significant influence or friendship with them? Friendships are built on both sides.
+ Stay in relationship with godly people. Lot went out on his own. We all need people who support us and encourage us on the things that are important. Abram had played a substantial role in directing Lot’s life and helping him find what was important. When Lot walked away from this over riches, he lost what was most rich in his life (his mentorship by Abram).
+ Look at where you are choosing to reside and the influence they provide. If you choose a work environment or home environment that is oppositional to God, it is going to be harder to live a life for God. Lot chose to go and reside where the influence all around him was opposing to God.
+ Don’t let your appetites drive your decisions. We see with Lot and also the story about Sampson how appetite and desires drew them to make more choices. Lot chose the best land over reducing his flock and staying with Abram. We need to pray and let God lead our decisions. We may not understand them at the time, but find they are what genuinely flourish our lives.
A story on this. Years ago, I had an employee who worked for my boss. She was an entry level accountant and she was floundering. My boss was going to fire her. My boss had also asked me to hire and train a financial analyst under me so we discussed both these things in our meeting. I went home that night and prayed about what to do with this position she wanted me to hire someone for. I heard God speak to hire this young lady who my boss was terminating. From the natural, it made no sense to me. She was floundering terribly at her work and I knew my boss would not be happy with me for asking to hire her for a higher level job. But I trusted so I went into my boss the next day and asked. She was a little annoyed with me but it saved her the trouble of having to terminate someone so she agreed, only as a lateral move. So I hired her and began to train her. I also started speaking life into her and told her that God told me to hire her. As I did, she started coming alive. I could see that she was made for this kind of work. She was the best employee I ever hired and I ended up taking her with me when I moved up. Not only this but people would comment all the time about how she used to walk bowed down with her hair in her face and she looked like a totally different person. She was radiant. She not only grew in her job but her relationship with Jesus. He became real to her.
+ This brings me to the next one, develop your connection with God. It is through Jesus that you flourish. He has a plan for your life that is how you are wired and made. Each person has a God given purpose. We need to find it. If we don’t we will flounder outside of God’s best for our lives. Lot settled and did not flourish as he never found where he belonged. The more he settled, the smaller his life became. When you step into it and trust Him, he will prosper you in it.
+ Learn from your mistakes. Lot just didn’t seem to learn and adapt when difficulty occurred in his life. He weathered through it and survived. I hear people say they are survivors, but God has for us to be thrivers. We are to learn and grow on the ground of mistakes. It only makes us better and more able to meet the next challenges. Lot didn’t take heed of the warning signs that he was on a downward path and move away from it. Lot let his challenges make him smaller until he had so much anxiety and fear, he couldn’t live around people anymore.
+ Ask God for help. Lot got himself stuck in tough situations but he did not ask God for help. Instead, he tried to manage them on his own and made poor choices. We see this with him offering up his two virgin daughters to an evil mob. He was going to take the situation in his own hands and the angels pulled him back and took over the situation either way because of Abram’s prayers.
+ Live out of trust and relationship with God. We need to trust and look to God for everything. Lot failed to trust God. Even when he was directed initially to the mountains, he insisted he needed to have it his way and go to the close by town. Who knows if they headed in a different direction if his wife would have still looked back. Good comes when we trust God.
How this applies to my life: As my two youngest boys are still at home, it reminds me of how important it is to help them to seek the Lord and His purposes for their lives. If they just go along for the ride and then complacently grab for their own desires, they could end up like Lot and flounder. They need to develop their own relationship, see their purpose and live into it or they could lose their way in life. Kids succeed because they seek God and live out of their purpose.
Looking at Abram, he was not as good at honoring his wife as he was the Lord. He let the Egyptians have her as a way to have his life spared and treat him well because of it. But the Lord protected Sarai, exposed the lie through sending plagues on Egypt as a result. So, the Pharaoh released her and sent them away.
All that to say, that when we worship the Lord and put him first, we are not going to get everything right. We will still struggle along the way. But as we do our best to follow Him and honor Him, God will make things work out for us. He never abandons or forsakes us. He will lead us straight into the best land and rich promises.
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