So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. —Genesis 13:11-12
Abraham had a nephew by the name of Lot. The two of them reached a place where each of them had to make a choice, but it didn’t matter that much to Abraham! Why? He had obeyed. A sense of destiny was upon him, which is what kept him going. He knew that everything was not to be understood in terms of material things. Sadly, do you know what it says about Lot? He made a bad choice.
Sometimes there is something you can do about this matter of living conditions. Your living conditions may be what they are because of a bad choice. As to how you know whether you should be doing something about changing your living conditions instead of just putting up with them, the answer is twofold. First, has God unmistakably put you where you are? If so, you should stay there for the time being. He has a purpose in it for you. Second, if your being where you are is because of a hasty decision—and you have had no peace since—I would suggest God has a better plan for you. Pray that God will move you without you “jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.”
Could it be that God brought you to this place of crisis at this moment? Things can change. You may be living with the consequences of a bad choice, but it is a new day, and I would not write like this if there were no hope. Your life may not have to stay as it is. Something can happen in your heart before God, and you can say, “I am sorry!” and know that God loves you as much as He loved Lot and Abraham.
Excerpted from The Thorn in the Flesh (Charisma House, 2004).
