A Prayer for Rescue: Modeled by a Friend of God
Abraham is called a friend of God. He is also the father of all who believe. That
includes me. I love to sing the kids song: ‘Father Abraham’ with my grandkids
because it reminds me of my own adoption into the family of God.
But today, in Genesis 18 I noticed something about a conversation between
Abraham and God. First, God says this out loud: ‘Should I hide what I am about to
do from Abraham? Abraham is to become a great and powerful nation, and all the
nations of the earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him so that he
will command his children and his house after him to keep the way of the Lord by
doing what is right and just. This is how the Lord will fulfill to Abraham what He
promised him.’ (Genesis 18: 18,19).
God is about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, and he takes Abraham into his
confidence. Why? I think, because Abraham lived a life of trust in God. He
believed the words that God said. He trusted Him when he didn’t know where he
was going, and he lived a life that honored God. God also cares that we do what
is right and just and teach it to our children: we teach them about the Lord and
how He wants us to live.
So, Abraham is now concerned that God might sweep away the righteous with
the wicked. And he asks him directly: ‘You could not possibly do such a thing; to
kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. You
could not possibly do that! Won’t the Judge of the whole earth do what is just?’
(Gen 18:25). Wow, that’s bold! But God is not offended, He is gracious and
answers Abrahams questions: all 6 of them! Each time, asking if he would destroy
a city where there are less and less righteous: all the way down to 10. At 10,
Abraham stops asking. He believes that God won’t destroy the righteous with the
wicked.
Next, the angel of the Lord goes directly to Lot who urges them to stay with him.
When wicked men surround the house to have sex with the men who came, the
angels struck them all with blindness so they couldn’t find the door of the house.
That’s when they told Lot what was going to happen. And when Lot hesitated, the
Lord showed compassion on him and grabbed his hand, and the hands of his
family to escape. And they said: ‘Run for your lives! Don’t look back and don’t
stop anywhere on the plain! Run to the mountains or you will be swept away!’
(Gen:19:17).
So, here’s what I noticed:
-When we have a relationship with God, we can ask Him about anything. Our
questions don’t offend Him, because He knows that we are just dust and ashes.
Our trust in Him is imperfect but growing as we see Him good and just and faithful
in our own lives. In fact, we are told that when God destroyed Sodom: ‘he
remembered Abraham and brought Lot out of the middle of the upheaval when
he demolished the cities where Lot had lived.’ (Gen 19:29).
-God treats the righteous with compassion. Lot and his family lived in a city of
wickedness, and God saw a difference between Lot’s heart and the hearts of the
people in that wicked city. In His compassion, He dragged Lot away from a sinful
place. When I had wandered away from God and found myself in a sinful place, I
remember the day God came and got me. He literally dragged me away, and I am
so thankful for the day that my eyes were opened.
-When we become aware of the sin that is about to destroy us, we must act
decisively . It will only be by the grace of God that your eyes get opened, but
when they do: we must run for our lives! Don’t look back and don’t stop until we
have reached a safe place! This is where we see sin for the ugly thing that it really
is. If you are still saying: ‘it’s not THAT bad’ then you are not at a safe place yet. In
my own life, I had to get to a place of deep unhappiness. And I remember that I
had this thought: ‘If I’m ever going to be happy, I know it will have to be with
God.’ At the time, I did not know that that thought came to me from God
Himself. But I do now! And I am so thankful for the way He rescued me. Now I
understand that God speaks to me in my thoughts. These are easily distinguished
from the enemy’s lies however, because they will line up with God’s word.
-If we tolerate sin, we will eventually be destroyed by it. God had mercy and
compassion for Lot, but he was being changed by his culture. He didn’t want the
men of the city to have sex with other men, but he offered his two virgin
daughters to be abused by them? So, is that where his line in the sand is? And his
daughters were engaged to be married to wicked men- after all, we are told that
the entire population of men surrounded the house: so, the future wicked
husbands were there too. Not who I want for my daughter! And this is the kicker:
Lot’s wife. She looked back and became a pillar of salt. Now Abraham got up the
next morning, and he looked too, but it must have been different. So, this leads
me to assume that she looked back with longing at her home. Surrounded by
wickedness as it was, she had developed an attachment to it. She clung to
something worthless and became worthless herself. That sounds harsh, but it’s
true.
We become like the thing we cling to.
I am so thankful that God spared me and opened my eyes to HIS goodness,
and my prayer is that I will spend the rest of my life clinging to Him and that
my past will be a time that is never looked back
on with fondness. Maybe you are in Lot’s position like I was or maybe you have a
friend there: then pray. He wants us to be free from sin and in love with Him. He
wants that for me: and He wants that for you.
