27. September 2011 by admin.

Read Genesis 18 - 19 to get the full story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as well as the complete back ground for the story I am going to be referencing.  I am not going to go into the entire reason God is sending the angels to destroy the city, or why Lot’s family is protected, because he was Abraham’s nephew, he did stood in a special relationship with God despite his failings. Since I started this blog with the purpose of meditating on women in the Bible and how they are examples for us to either follow or be warned, I will only address the references to Lot’s wife.

Like Noah’s wife, we don’t have a record of her name, nor for that matter do we know the names of their two daughters, but that will be reserved for a different post.  We can take her story and Jesus’ reference to her (See Luke 17:32-33) to see the warning left by her.

Think on this, if you were awakened this morning at the crack of dawn (Gen 19:15) and told to flee immediately to save yourself, would you be able to just go?  No suitcase to pack, not stopping to pick up that favorite piece of clothing, or pictures, nothing, just RUN!  Ladies, be realistic could you just go?  Imagine your smoke detector goes off and you smell smoke and can not see, could you flee then?  Once you are out of the house, what would be your first reaction?  After checking to be sure your family was out and safe?  You would look back to see your house, your possessions, everything going up in smoke, wouldn’t you?  I think we all would.  It would be instinctive to do.  As you do what is natural, nothing will happen to you, you probably will feel the heat of the flames on your face, and the realization that all your possessions are no more, but you will not be destroyed yourself.  If you are a Christian you would probably begin to thank God that everyone is safe, the questions will come later, but for now you rejoice that no lives are lost.  But not so for Lot’s wife.  When she did, what we all would probably be tempted to do, she was destroyed.

She looked back at a life that God had judged, rather than looking forward to the safety God promised. Lot’s wife is an example of one who could not leave the world behind.  She craved the things she was told to leave.  I Cor 10:6 tells us that ungodly examples are given as a warning.  “Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” (I Cor. 10:12).  Lot’s wife is an example of an unbelieving heart that fell way from God (Heb.3:12), instead of being thankful for being delivered from the judgement on a wicked culture, she desired what she was leaving more than she desired God.  Consequently, she was demonstrating her identity with the world and not with God. I John 2:15, 16 tells us to not love the world and its enticements, they are not from God. Lot’s wife in gazing back demonstrated that her heart was with Sodom and she perished with Sodom.

Jesus uses her as the example when He warns His followers to flee the coming destruction of Jerusalem.  Not to get too far off course here, that warning was meant to be for those hearing Him speak at that time, not some future pre-millenial event.   A warning to flee and not look back.  Is that just to mean don’t look during that event, or can we take it further to mean, obey God, keep your eye on God and trust that God will guide you in His will, unlike those who did not obey but died in the fall of Jerusalem. That may be reading more into Jesus’ admonition to His followers, but if we really follow Him and trust Him with our lives isn’t that the attitude we should have?

As I think on that attitude, I have to confess there are times when I wonder what “might have been” if I had made different choices.  I am really glad the God has given me this admonition to NOT LOOK BACK!  HE WAS IN CONTROL.   If I truly believe that, than why question what He has done?  I should not, I need to praise Him more and thank Him for leading me.  I am not to morn over what could have been with different decisions, but when those thoughts come, I need to “Remember Lot’s wife” and flee in a sense.  Trusting Christ as my Savior is more than a ticket to heaven, it must be a way of life.  He has my life in His perfect plan, and I need to be confident that He has caused “ALL things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Rom. 8:28)

My fellow sisters, look to Jesus, He is our security and our confidence.  Don’t look to the world and the enticements it has to offer, look to Jesus and obey Him fully.  Don’t worry about the past and what might have been.  Realize that you are right where He wants you today, right now.  Use the moments He has given you to be His lamp to show others the way to His salvation.  Don’t worry about conditions around you, or the circumstances you may find yourself in, look to Him and He will bring you peace.  I know this is hard, as I said in the beginning, it is instinctive to “look back”  but remember Lot’s wife, do you look back with regret at what you left behind, rethinking choices you made and despairing over “what ifs”? Or do you look back and thank Jesus for saving you out of sin and misery, and rejoice that God has shown His love to you and has led you in His perfect will?  I hope it is the latter, but if you still doubt I challenge you to go to Jesus in prayer and confess your sins and trust Him for your salvation.  Spend time in reading the Bible each day and pray that God will send His spirit to bring you understanding.  If you don’t currently have a church, seek a Bible preaching church and put yourself under the teaching of God’s Word through His faithful ministers.  Don’t look back, look to Jesus!

If you feel this was an encouragement to you, please I would love to know.  Remember we are to encourage one another in righteousness, so feel free to leave your comments to encourage others in their walk.  God bless you all.

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7. September 2011 by admin.

Genesis 16 and 21:9-21

How many time have we thought we needed to “do something” because it seemed that God was not doing anything?

Imagine yourself in Sarai’s situation, her husband has been promised a great blessing from God, but there you are, no children and you are not getting any younger.  So you do what other wives in your position in that day did, told your husband he could have a child with your handmaid.  This was common practice, and the child would have been raised as Abram’s heir.  But things did not turn out exactly as Sarai thought they would.  Hagar became prideful that she was able to conceive when her mistress could not.  So Sarai takes the issue to her husband, who tells her to “do to her what is good in your sight.” v6.  So Sarai treats her harshly to the point that Hagar runs away.

God then sends an angel to Hagar to bring her comfort and send her back to Sarai and Abram.  At this point, only Abram had been visit by the Lord personally with the promise of descendants.  It is interesting that He showed mercy to Hagar, an Egyptian, and appeared to her, when as yet He had not appeared or spoken to Sarai.  Hagar has learned her lesson and returns and submits herself to Sarai.  We do see in this chapter that she bears a son for Abram, but we are not told any more of Sarai’s treatment of Hagar for 15 years.

In chapter 17 God confirms with Abram and Sarai that she will be the mother of the promise seed, and their names are changed to Abraham (father of a multitude) and Sarah.  Though Abraham seeks a blessing for Ishmael (vs.18) God confirms that the covenant will be with Isaac, Sarah’s future son.  When Isaac is born we see further conflict between Sarah and her maid, Hagar.  In Chapter 21 Sarah asks Abraham to send them away (v.10).  We see that Abraham must have felt deeply for Ishmael, because this idea causes him distress (v. 11), but God assures him to listen to his wife and do as she says, but Ishmael will be blessed because he is Abraham’s descendant as well (vs. 12, 13).  When Hagar and Ishmael are driven away, they do face a severe trial, to the point that Hagar thinks they will die, but again God shows His mercy and care for her and her son (v. 19) and they do survive and prosper.

I see many different lessons to be learned from these two women that can be applicable today:

1.  Sarah showed a lack of faith and patience when she stepped in to “solve” her problem.  How often do we do the same thing?  Have we learned to “wait upon the Lord?”  Or do we take matters into our own hands when it appears that He is not acting?  Patience does not come easily for me, I remember as a young Christian in my teens praying for patience.  Now, over 40 years later, I still have moments of weakness and impatience when God calls for me to wait.  Even now, as I have been without work since December, I am learning to seek that peace that passes understanding as I wait for God to show me what He has planned.  But I have been comforted as Hagar was in the wilderness that God is there and He does care and has provided for my family’s needs.

2.  Hagar was a slave in a difficult situation, but she did not show humility and grace.  Instead of being humble before her mistress, she showed pride and had to be sent away.  It may be difficult for us to place ourselves in Hagar’s position today because the idea of letting a husband conceive a child with another woman seems adulterous to us.  But remember God did show mercy on Hagar and her child.  She was told to return to her position as a slave and submit to her mistress so we can but assume that she did this.  Learning that humility before another is another trait we as Christians need to seek.

3.  We do not base our decisions and actions on what is a cultural norm.  Though it was acceptable to have a child and possibly many children in this manner it did not make it right.  Though God did protect Hagar and her child, and even blessed them, this was not His perfect will for Abraham and Sarah.  History shows that Ishmael’s descendents  would become enemies of the covenant people of God, and even today those descendents are at odds with the church of Jesus Christ.

4.  When we seek to solve issues outside of the Word of God, we end up making a mess that can cause future consequences for us and others.  The Bible is the source of God’s will and we need to be seeking to immerse ourselves in His Word to know that will thoroughly.  Do you spend time studying the Word of God, or do you just do a quick read and then go about your day?  We must spend time in the word, studying and meditating upon it to be led in the Truth of God’s will.

May you learn to wait upon the Lord in all that you do, may He give you patience and humility to see His mercy and care for you, and may you spend time meditating upon the word of God that you might know His will for your life as well.

God go with you this week and may His spirit rest upon you in all your endeavors.

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