“As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city” (Genesis 19:15-16 ESV).
Angels had come to Lot to save him from the destruction that God was about to rain down on Sodom and Gomorrah. Years before, Abraham had given Lot his choice of prime real estate and Lot fell in love with the valley. But the valley was filled with wicked people whose sins had riled God.
The angels desperately urged Lot to gather his family and leave the valley for the surrounding hill country, “but he lingered.”
I’ve found in my own life that there have been people and things that were distracting me from the life that God wanted for me. I knew that they were keeping me from reaching and fulfilling my calling, but they were a part of my life.
I’m certain that Lot didn’t approve of the sins of his neighbors, but they had been friends for years. He had established a life in Sodom. And while he didn’t want to be killed, he likewise didn’t want to leave his life behind. So he hesitated.
I’m not going to be so bold as to say that all of the things that happened in Lot’s life after this were caused by his hesitation. But it would be foolhardy to suggest that there was no impact.
We were in a similar situation when we gave our hearts and lives to God in Christ. We were facing destruction. But God, in His mercy, spared us when we came to faith. Yet we all have hesitated as Lot did. We have all struggled with letting go of some things. We have all had to face the facts that some people in our lives only distract us and pull us away from God’s best for us.
For what or for whom do you linger when God calls you?
Skipping Stones 