Before I begin this post, I want to say “thank you” for your prayers as I have been under the weather.  I am doing much better today.  Shew!

When they were safely out of the city, one of the angels ordered,

“Run for your lives! And don’t look back or stop anywhere in the valley!

Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away!”

“Oh no, my lord!” Lot begged. 

“You have been so gracious to me and saved my life, and you have shown such great kindness.

But I cannot go to the mountains. Disaster would catch up to me there, and I would soon die.

  See, there is a small village nearby.

Please let me go there instead; don’t you see how small it is?

Then my life will be saved.”

“All right,” the angel said, “I will grant your request.

I will not destroy the little village.  But hurry! Escape to it, for I can do nothing until you arrive there.”

(This explains why that village was known as Zoar, which means “little place.”)

As I read this about a week ago, my eyes stopped at the lines “But I cannot go to the mountain…..”

Can you imagine being in Lot’s shoes? 

Visited by angels, spared by God, pointed toward safety, then having the nerve to say those words?

“But I cannot go to the mountain..”

 

Lot feared God’s rescue plan!

 

I wonder how many times we say, “But I cannot…” to God’s plan?

 

I don’t want to take this passage out of context, but the fact that this series of events is included in the story must mean it holds some sort of lessons for us today.

I wonder if one of the lessons has to do with Lot’s fear of the unknown?

I love that the angel allowed Lot to act on his fear.

Lot saw a small village nearby and begged to go there instead, because he thought surely disaster would find him in the mountains.

So, the angel, said, “All right.  I will grant your request.” 

I wonder if angels ever roll their eyes, because I’m just thinking that this would have been a perfect facial expression as he breathed those words.

And then, I think the angel would have shook his head as he watched Lot dart off to Zoar which he knew meant, “little place.”

 

So many times in my life, I have feared God’s mountain-sized callings and settled for “little places” where I can have security and daily purpose.

But, I’m thinking God often has bigger plans for us if we will just muster the courage to GO!

 

Maybe we’re not running from evil.

Maybe we’re not running at all.

Maybe we’re just feeling a call.

 

Let’s each take some time to look deep inside our hearts this week and ask the question, “Lord, what do you want from me?”

If you feel the nudge to turn towards something daring and somewhat scary that could bring glory to Him, don’t find yourself choosing a Lot kind-of life and settling in a “little place.”