Insignificance?

“Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!” –Genesis 19:20, ESV

Consider Lot’s request. Angels have delivered him from evil, and given him, not just a way out from destruction, but a way TO God. But he would have to run (v.17)—as if for a prize (1Co 9:24). But Lot requests an easier escape: A “little place,” an insignificant haven. His mind was on earthly things (Phi 3:19), not on heavenly rewards (Col 3:1-2).

God is offering us freedom in the hills, and the opportunity to draw near His altar. But what do we ask from the LORD? Safe travels? Quick recovery? Successful surgeries? Hedges of protection that keep us in our comfort zones? New luxuries? Better houses? A higher-paying job? How often do our prayers treat God like a butler in the sky, pleading for a pillow? “Lord, heal me quickly so I no longer have to suffer. Settle the strife in my family so we can just get along. Free me from anxiety so I no longer have these panic attacks.”

These requests are like Lot’s—concerned only with what we can see (or feel). But to pray for the temporal with no thought to the eternal, is to make requests for… insignificance.

“Do not be like [the babbling Gentiles in prayer], for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. So pray this way: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored, may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’” –Matthew 6:8-13, NET

If our pursuit was truly upon Christ, how might our prayers look different?

“Lord, open my eyes as we travel to our destination, and let our hearts be open to holy detours where we can give witness to your greatness to the tow truck driver.”

“Father, I have signed the blank check of my life and handed it over to you. My body is in Your hands. If Your desire is to strike me with infirmity in order to send me as a witness into a hospital, I will joyfully comply.”

“O God, You give and You take away. If it would be better for my house to burn to the ground if this is what it takes to remove from my heart these worldly possessions. May I joyfully sing your praises as I stand before the ashes.”

May all my superficial prayers be ignored, and this one prayer be answered: “Draw me closer to you, God, so that I may be conformed into the image of your son to the praise of your glorious grace. Keep Your kingdom and mission before my eyes; my heart declaring, ‘It is well with my soul’ to whatever may come.’”

Just A Little One

“‘Look, this town over here is close enough to escape to, and it’s just a little one. Let me go there. It’s just a little place, isn’t it? Then I’ll survive.’ ‘Very well,’ he replied, ‘I will grant this request too and will not overthrow the town you mentioned. Run there quickly, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.’ (This incident explains why the town was called Zoar.) The sun had just risen over the land as Lot reached Zoar.” –Genesis 19:20-23, NET

Yet where does Lot flee? Zoar, which means “insignificance,” and is in the opposite direction of obedience and the hills of protection. Let us consider this morning: What is your Zoar?

“God, I know you want me to give up this and go there. But I am unable to do all that. What if I…?” And though the LORD grieves our doubt and future ruin, He mournfully grants our request.

How short our trust. We are offered deliverance, but we abandon God’s offer because the road looks impossible in our own strength. We do not trust God at His promise. We forsake his mighty spiritual armory (Eph 6:10-18; 2Co 10:3-5). Instead, we contrive earthly strategies that are within our faithless reach. Though He grants us freedom from one vice, we take on a lesser one to medicate. We are not ready to dedicate our whole selves. We trade freedom for a less miserable prison—a smaller addiction, a strategic habit, a seemingly “insignificant” sin (Rom 14:23).

May God grant us eyes to see the seriousness of sin and flee with all our might to The Mountain for rescue (Jer 4:6; Heb 12:22-24).

God desires all of us, sweeping clean His temple with zeal (Mat 21:12-13; 1Co 6:19). How sad to ask of the kind Savior, “Do not clean this little room. Allow me to keep this space for myself.” For sin is an infestation and is not content to stay secluded. It will silently spread, the visible signs showing only after it has consumed hidden parts and undermined our foundation.

O, LORD, “see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psa 139:24). Show me what I need to sever or tear out (Mark 9:43-47), and give me the faith to surrender every weight of sin that slows my pace (Heb 12:1). “Create in me a clean heart” and “renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psa 51:10), so that I would be so zealous to clean out your temple (Mat 21:12-13; 1Co 6:19) and tear down any arrogant obstacle that hinders my obedience to You (2Co 10:4-6).

BUT…

“But Lot said to them, ‘No, please, Lord! Your servant has found favor with you, and you have shown me great kindness by sparing my life. But I am not able to escape to the mountains because this disaster will overtake me and I’ll die.’” –Genesis 19:18-19, NET

Read that again. “You have shown me great kindness, BUT….” O, what tragedy! See how quickly Lot shifts his trust. The subject of his dialogue moved from the heavenly help (“You”) to himself (“I”). Lot recognized the kindness of God, but thought the LORD indifferent to seeing that work to completion. Lot saw how he was rescued by the able hands of angels, but then believed himself without God’s strength once they came to city’s edge. Lot surely said to himself, "I can't possibly make it that far before judgment comes," and so he made concessional requests based on his own weakness.

Are we any different? How many have had the chains of sin broken by the blood of Christ, but then been unwilling to walk through the door of the prison cell and live in the light of freedom?

“Are you so foolish? Although you began with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by human effort?” –Galatians 3:3, NET

If the LORD has graced a man with a divine encounter (v.3), snatched him from the clutches of the enemy (v.10) given him an ear to hear a higher call (vv.12-13), motivated feet to obey His command to “come out” from the so-called security of his earthly home (vv.15-16) and onto the uncertain landscape beyond (v.17), why would he lose heart and become frightened by the rumblings of a creation under God's control (2Sa 22:8-9). Why did Lot not reside in the LORD's loyal love and “have confidence in the day of judgment” (1Jo 4:16-18)? Are not God's promises reliable (Heb 10:23)?

To put another way, if the LORD has given us an ear to hear (Mat 13:16), and has motivated our feet to obey His command to “come” and step out from the security of a man-made boat of unbelief and onto turbulent waters of faith (Mat 14:29), then may we not lose heart and be frightened by the very waves our Savior has stirred up (Psa 107:23-29). If we are His “dearly loved children” (Eph 5:1), He will equip us with all we need (1Pe 1:3) and see us through till the end (Jos 1:7-9; Heb 13:5).

When we are tempted to say to the LORD, “But…” may we be silenced and hear “BUT GOD…” (Eph 2:4), and then drop to our knees in humble recognition to whom we speak (Isa 6:1-7). Then let our next words be only, “Yes, LORD. Your servant is listening.”

“Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and You won't start now”
(Hillsong United, “Oceans”)