Life Lessons From Biblical Characters | Lot

Genesis 19: 15-16

Today's passage is rather short, but it holds a phrase that I never noticed before.

"And while he lingered..."

How many times have we been given a warning from God, a direction, a laid out plan of His will and we linger.

We think of all of the other ways we could accomplish what God has asked us to do.  We look around to see what everyone else is doing.  We watch to see what decisions our family has made... or to see what they want us to do.  We think too long about whether we are going to obey willingly or if we had to be dragged into obedience.  We start compromising with God to come to a happy medium for us.

Yet, what He wants is for us to obey quickly... the way we expect our children to obey us.

And then, like in Lot's case, He grabs us by the hand and has to pull us along.  Sometimes we are left slightly bruised because He had to hold on so tightly... but if we had just obeyed quickly without hesitation, we would have no visual reminders of our lingering.  Sometimes we are left trying to catch our breath because we chose to obey so late that we had to move more quickly than comfort usually allows.... but if we had obeyed quickly without hesitation we could have enjoyed a leisurely journey to our destination.  Sometimes we experience losses along the way (Lot's wife and the virtue of his two daughters) because our lack of movement and our need for God to intervene caused others to lose respect for our example... but if we had obeyed quickly without hesitation they would have seen how total trust and dependance in the Lord can lead to long life and reward.

I tend to be a cautious person.  I like to know all of the angles and possiblities before I reach a conclusion.  But I do not want to linger when God says move.  I don't want to look to others for their approval of my obedience to the Lord.  I don't want to look around to see what everyone else is doing.  I don't want to have to be dragged into obedience.

I want my story to be different than Lot's story.  I want to learn from his mistakes.  Lord, help me never to linger.