My Little One

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.”- Proverbs 14:12

That verse stings pretty badly, doesn’t it? We get told straight to our face that what we think is right, left to our own devices, will ultimately lead to death. On our own, we are destined to fail. Anything we try outside of the will of God is pretty useless.

That is such a loving verse, because it is a blatant warning that, try as we might, we are going to fail, but there is a loving God who has your good in mind that longs to guide you and direct you through everything. Are you still going to make the wrong choices as a believer? Of course, probably more often than you’d wish to admit. But the great thing is, it’s not our own faithfulness that God is depending on, but the perfect blood of His Son that died in our place who is infinitely faithful. So when we do mess up, we are never too far gone.

There’s a fascinating illustration of this in the very first book of the Bible, in Genesis 19. Here’s a little background in case you don’t know. Lot is Abraham’s cousin, and he’s a good guy. He gets called righteous a few times, and I’ll admit, to have your name next to the word “righteous” in the Bible is pretty spectacular. So, Lot and Abraham are living on this land together, and eventually over time, the place just gets too small and people start arguing and Abraham, being a very patient and peace-seeking man, thinks it’s probably wise for them to separate, and he gives Lot first dibs on where he wants to go. Lot pretty selfishly chooses the better looking location, but it just so happens to be pretty close to Sodom. (Isn’t that the way of temptation?) Over time, Lot pretty much ends up living within the city gates of Sodom, truly living among a depraved people. However, Lot was faithful and remained upright and righteous, but he was the only one.

God’s holy wrath was burning again the city of Sodom, and really every city in the Jordan plains. Abraham knew that the Lord wanted to destroy the place, so he begged and pleaded with God to spare the city if he could find just a few faithful- such a beautiful picture of how earnestly we should be crying out for the lost! God honored the prayer of Abraham and sent angels to Lot to warn him to leave immediately or he would be caught up in the fire he was about to send. Lot honored the angels that came to him as created beings (even though he was pretty sketchy in trying to prostitute out his daughters to pacify the crazy Sodomites who wanted to bust down the door to sexually assault the angels), and they warned him to take anyone with him who he wanted to save.

No one really believes him, and for whatever reason, Lot is lingering in Sodom in the morning. (Isn’t that all too familiar? Lingering in sin that God is telling you to flee from!) The angels are so urgent for him to leave that they literally seize Lot, his wife, and his two daughters by the hand and set them outside the city. I love that the verse specifically says that this is the Lord being merciful to Lot. He’s clearly not being obedient (or as my mom says, “Slow obedience is no obedience”) but the Lord is so faithful and merciful to him that he physically drags Lot out of Sodom.

Ok, so that’s the background. Here’s what the angels command Lot and his family:

“Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.”

Oh my goodness, so much life application in that command! God’s mercy falls all over Lot in this passage as he gives him an escape route with exact directions. When I first read Lot’s response, I was kind of miffed at him:

“Oh no, my lords. Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die. Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there- is it not a little one?- and my life will be saved!”

I balked at Lot on this one. Are you kidding me? Lot, God has physically sent you angels who have told you that they are about to cast down fire and brimstone- did you catch that?- they themselves are about to cast FIRE and BRIMSTONE down on that city! Do you have that kind of authority? I don’t even know what brimstone is, but it sounds terrible. God is showing you ultimate mercy in saving you from this, he has angels literally pick you up and drag you out to save you, because that warning wasn’t enough? Then, they give you an escape route- and honestly, these guys are pretty powerful, wouldn’t you trust them?- and you say, “Nah, I’ve got a better plan?”

I’ve always thought Lot was so silly, so simple-minded, so blinded to how GOOD the Lord was to him. I mean, honestly, when you read stories about God striking down Ananias and Saphira for telling a little fib, but then saving Lot even though he lingers and stalls in the ultimate city of sin, don’t you think God was being more than fair to him? Lot basically says, “Sure, you guys saved my life, and I’m really thankful, really, but I think I’ve got a better idea on this. Can’t you guys see that I’m going to die in the hills? That city over there, that makes more sense. I know they’re corrupt too, but they’re little, I mean, they’re not as bad as Sodom.”

Lot, Lot, Lot. Oh, I wish I did not identify with you so much. How many times, when we are lingering in a place of sin, whether we are actually taking part in the sin or not, does God send out rescue for us, and yet we still try to depend on ourselves?  God may not be raining down fire and sulfur on where we live, but I think the story and illustration are in the Word to make a clear point to us- “That’s what I saved you from.” He uses the exact same words we associate with hell to show us that’s what we deserve, that’s the punishment for outright rebellion against God. Maybe our story looks more like this:

God- “Raegan, you’re really flirting with sin right now. You’re lingering in a place that isn’t good for you. You’ve started to live of the world instead of just in it. I want to rescue you, because if you don’t leave now, it will destroy you.”

Raegan- “Lord, thank you! But can I wait just a bit? There’s a few more things I want for myself. I’m going to leave, I promise, but just give me a minute please.”

God- “If you’re not going to act now, I’m going to act for you.”

---Slow obedience= no obedience. Sometimes God has to grab you by the hand and pull you out. That’s not always the most painless option. It probably would have hurt a little less if Lot and I had walked away when God said to.

God- “Ok, now that I’ve got you out, you have to run. You can’t stay around, because it will hurt you. Run, run towards the hills, chase after me and don’t look back, because that’s you’re ultimate place of safety.”

Raegan- “The hills? That’s pretty lofty, Lord, I can’t do that. What if I can’t escape? That’s too hard, there’s so much risk! Can’t I just run towards this lesser plan? I mean, it’s not as bad as what I was in, and I’m sure it’s a safer option. It’s little, so I can handle that. Lord, aren’t you proud of me for leaving? Can’t you cut me some slack?”

God- “Oh, my darling child, how do you even believe you came to me in the first place? Wasn’t it I that came to you, rescued you, and long to live within you, even though you are resisting my best? I’ll give you what you ask because I made you to choose. However, it’s not my best.”

---We still absolutely have free will, and there are times where God will hand us over to the little desires in our hearts. It’s not his best, and it breaks his heart, but I think he knows we have to learn. He wants us to trust Him more than anything, and sometimes that takes falling on our face to realize we don’t have the best plan in mind.

Here’s how the rest of the story goes. Lot’s wife looks back (maybe she wanted something of her old life, maybe she didn’t believe it would actually be destroyed), and because she deliberately disobeyed, she gets turned into a pillar of salt. And that’s the last she’s mentioned- a whole other lesson on its own. Lot and his daughters wind up in Zoar, which is what the Lord renamed the town that means “little one,” and it’s not very long before Lot gets scared out of his mind to stay there. Maybe it was the grave realization that the Lord, indeed, would destroy the places He said He would destroy, but Lot gets up and heads for the hills because he’s afraid.

When I get to my Zoar, I hope I will be struck with the same fear that Lot was in NOT following the Lord. I hope I see my Zoar for what it is- my little one, my little plan, my safe place, my “not so bad,” my lesser version of salvation. And I hope in seeing the Lord for who He is-merciful, yet just; full of grace, yet holy- that I will drop to my knees in reverence and fear and flee to the place he’s appointed for me. But I hope it won’t get to that point. Because the sin that Lot fell into once he was in solitude in the mountains is yet another lesson for another day- sin that resulted because Lot acted in fear instead of faith.

There is so much to learn from the life of Lot, but I think the one thing that stood out to me above all else was this: even when I am faithless, He is faithful. Even when I am dirty in my own sin of disobedience, he covers me with mercy and provides a way out. Even when I choose Zoar, I can always get to the mountains. God is who He says He is all the time, His character doesn’t change, and I can put my whole faith in that. He will supply for my every need.

My prayer today is that you’ll trade your Zoar for the mountains. Yes, the risk may seem great, but in losing Sodom, you get the renewed joy of salvation. Run to the hills, and don’t linger in the valley; run for your life, and don’t be swept away.