The Decision of Lot
Abram and Lot stood on the plain. Their herds had become so large that there wasn't enough pature for them all. Their herdsmen were fighting each other for the best feeding for their master's flocks. Finally, Abram stepped in.
"Lot, we should not let something this petty come between us. Choose which way you want to go, and I will go the other way." It doesn't say this explicitly in the passage, but it is clear in the subtext that Lot was not stopping his herdsmen from fighting. Abram was the older of the two, and the more powerful. He could easily have just made a choice and forced his will on Lot. Instead, he lets Lot choose.
Lot looks to the east and to the west. To the east, he sees the Jordan River Valley, lush and green. He also sees the large, metropolitan cities that are there and the life they offer. He chooses what looks best in his eyes.
Abram humbly takes the leftovers. He moves away from the main source of water in the region. It forces him to trust God for his supply.
On its face, this seems like a fairly mundane decision. Eventually, we see the results. Lot and his family wind up living in Sodom, a place of wealth and luxury, but also a place of intense wickedness. God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah, and in the end, Lot loses his wife and everything he owns. Abram, on the other hand, is blessed immensely.
I wonder how things might have turned out differently if Lot had humbled himself before his uncle and trusted the word of God in his life. What if Lot had chosen the worst land and given his uncle the best?
In my own life, I have found that the path of blessing rarely winds its way through the way that makes sense from a human perspective. The path of blessing is narrow and rocky. The path of blessing is in the desert. The path of blessing is in the place of absolute dependence on Yahweh. The path of blessing is in suffering, pain, and the death of things I find important.
But oh, the rewards on the other side!
SONGS FOR SUNDAY
Here Waiting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKYWheWFHYM
Worthy of it All
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbPwlplQc7Y
How Great Thou Art