Ep. 142 | How did I get here? | Genesis

Listen in as Pastor Eddie Blalock shares today’s daily devotional featuring Genesis 19:2-4. Let’s be Formed by The Word together!

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SPEAKER_00 0:01

Every one of us eventually reaches a place where we have to decide. Will I trust God even when I can't see where He's leading? That's not a new question. It's one of the oldest questions in the Bible. No one illustrates that journey better than Abraham. Welcome to Forms by the Word, where we open God's Word not just to study it, but to let it shape our hearts and transform our lives. Sometimes our journey of faith leads through familiar places. Other times it leads into the unknown. There are seasons of joy and seasons of waiting, moments of great faith and moments of painful failure. Genesis 11 through 25 tells the story of an ordinary man called to an extraordinary walk of faith, and in the process helps us discover that God still leads ordinary people, like us, into an extraordinary walk of faith. So whether you're driving, working, exercising, or simply enjoying a quiet moment with the Lord, I invite you to open your heart and let's learn to trust the God who always keeps his promises one step of faith at a time.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

Beth and I love going to the beach. We mostly sit on the beach and read and maybe take a little nap. But anytime we're there, I have to get into the water for just a little body surfing. Riding the wave is a really great feeling. But if you're playing in the water at the beach, you've probably experienced the drift. You put your chair and umbrella down, you walk straight into the ocean and start swimming, playing or riding a wave, and twenty minutes later you look towards shore and your chair is nowhere in front of you. It's fifty yards down the beach. You never felt yourself moving, you never really decided to go anywhere, but the current was carrying you all the while and you weren't paying attention. That's what makes drifting dangerous. You can be moving without realizing you're moving. Spiritual drift is the same. Spiritual drift rarely feels like rebellion. Most of the time, it just feels like life. We've watched Abraham's nephew Lot drift through life a bit. He didn't arrive in Sodom in one giant leap. He looked toward it, then moved toward it, then lived in it, and then finally became established in it. There's an important lesson here for us. Nobody drifts a mile at a time. We drift an inch at a time, and eventually those inches become miles. But I've also noticed that drifting rarely feels like drifting while you're doing it. Nobody wakes up one morning and says, Today, I think I'll drift far away from God. It usually happens one small decision at a time, one compromise, one adjustment, one thing that used to bother us doesn't bother us quite as much anymore. And before we know it, that drift has taken us miles away. That's what makes Lot's story so sobering. Lot didn't move into Sodom in one giant leap, did he? He drifted there. Have you observed the progression embedded in Genesis? I mentioned it a moment ago. In Genesis 13, 10, Lot looked towards Sodom. And in Genesis 13, 12, Lot pitched his tents near Sodom. In Genesis 14, 12, Lot was living in Sodom. And now we come to chapter 19 and we see that Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. Lot looked, he moved near, he moved in, and he settled down. What we tolerate today can become where we live tomorrow. Okay, so we come to Genesis 19. Let's observe very closely three movements in the section today that will help us, I think, with this spiritual drift. The first thing we notice, verses one through four, is that Lot lived in Sodom. Here's how it reads. Lot was sitting in Sodom's gateway. Let's keep reading. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them. He bowed with his face to the ground and said, My lords, turn aside to your servant's house, wash your feet and spend the night. Then you can get up early and go on your way. No, they said. We would rather spend the night in the square. But he urged them so strongly that they followed him and went into his house, and he had prepared a feast and baked unleavened bread for them, and they ate, and before they went to bed the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, the whole population surrounded the house. Now the key isn't merely here his geographical address. It's how deeply rooted he has become. Lot was sitting at Sodom's gate. That's significant. You see, the city gate was a center of civic, legal, commercial, and social activity. It certainly suggests that Lot is no outsider anymore. I would be slightly cautious here about saying that it proves he was a leader, but it does strongly suggest that he is integrated within the community. Now here's an important nuance worth talking about. Lot's mistake wasn't knowing people in Sodom. His mistake was becoming attached to Sodom. Think about Jesus. Jesus ate with sinners. Paul intentionally carried the gospel into pagan cities. Christians aren't called to isolation. In fact, we are called to impact our world. The danger isn't proximity to lost people. The danger is conformity to a lost world. In John 17, verses 15 through 18, we're privileged to hear Jesus praying in the garden. We read that he says to the Father, I am not praying that you take them, speaking of us, out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one. As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. So we are not called to be out of the world. We're sent into it. But we're not supposed to become like it. Becoming like it causes a drift. The second thing we notice here is verses twelve through fourteen, Lot couldn't get Sodom out of his family. Yeah, I said that right. Lot couldn't get Sodom out of his family. Read verse twelve. Then the angels said to Lot, Do you have anyone else here? A son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of this place. For we're about to destroy this place because the outcry against his people is so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it. So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were going to marry his daughters. Get up, he said, get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city. But his sons-in-laws thought he was joking. Wow. This may be one of the saddest parts of this passage. The angels essentially say, Lot, who have you influenced? Get them out. And the only one Lot goes to is his sons in laws, and he warns them, get up, get out of this place. The Lord's going to destroy the city, and they think he's joking. That's somewhat sobering to me. Perhaps Lot had become so comfortable in Sodom that his warnings about God's judgment no longer sounded credible. Had Lot lived so comfortably in Sodom that when he finally warned his family about Sodom, they couldn't take him seriously? Similarly, our credibility is shaped long before the crisis comes. If my life says this world is everything, my words about eternity may not carry much weight. If I'm in love with the world, my talk of judgment may not mean much. Third thing, Lot struggled to leave Sodom. Look at verses 15 and 16. It says, At daybreak, the angels urged Lot on, get up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city. But he hesitated. Yeah, I know, hold that. Read that. Let me read that again. But he hesitated. Let's continue. He hesitated because of the Lord's compassion for him. The men grabbed his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his two daughters, and they brought him out and left him outside the city. So you see what I say. Clearly Lot struggled to leave Sodom. The angel said, get up, but in verse 16, we're told that he hesitated. What an incredible two-word spiritual biography, right? God says go, Lot says no. But why does he hesitate? The text doesn't explicitly say because he loved Sodom, but everything in the narrative suggests how deeply entangled his life had become there, his home, his possessions, his relationship, his family ties, and even his life. So he's being told to leave everything you've built right now. But he hesitates. Sometimes we don't realize how attached we've become to the things of this world until God asks us to let something go. What can you imagine or not imagine living without? Your possessions, your lifestyle, your reputation, your comfort, your career. You know, I often discover what really owns my heart when God asks me to loosen my grip on it. I want to close today a little differently than normal. I want us to close out this section with a glimpse at the clear gospel in Genesis, and then you can make your own applications. Verse 16 really preaches to me. It says, But he that is Lot hesitated. Because of the Lord's compassion for him, the men grabbed his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his two daughters, and they brought them out and left him outside the city. It's my favorite part of this sad story. Lot hesitated, but God didn't. Lot hesitated, but God grabbed him. That's grace. Lot doesn't escape because of his impressive faith. God mercifully pulls a hesitant man away from destruction. Even when Lot was slow to let go of Sodom, God was gracious enough not to let go of Lot. Well, that's the gospel story, isn't it? So friends, the caution is clear. Don't get so comfortable in Sodom that you hesitate when God says, Let's go. But if you do, remember this Lot hesitated, but grace grabbed his hand. Let's pray. Thank you, Lord, for your grace. Thank you for a grace and a mercy that is so far beyond what we deserve. A grace that grabs our hand and often pulls us from destruction and danger. Lord, when we hesitate, thank you for pulling us along. But God, may we learn to not hesitate, to say yes. Help us today, Lord, to put our yes on the table in whatever you ask of us in Jesus' name. Amen.

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Thanks for joining us today on Formed by the Word. As we journey through the life of Abraham, we're learning together what it means to walk by faith and trust God one step at a time. Wherever you are on your own journey today, remember, the same God who called Abraham is still calling, leading, and faithfully keeping his promises to his people. Pastor Eddie would love to hear how God is using these devotions in your life. Your thoughts and comments are always welcome. Until next time, remember, God rarely shows us the whole journey, he simply asks us to trust him with the next step.