Options. Life is chuck full of them! Where to live, where to work, whether or not to accept that promotion, what to drive...and today I wanted to share a little about what I learned in regard to navigating those options.
I'm reading in Genesis (which I love, by the way), and am learning a lot through the story of Abram...um Abraham...um, Abramaham.
Here's a summary of Genesis 12...God told Abram (who He would later give the name Abraham), to leave his country and his home and go to the place that God would show him (without gps or a map). God said he would make Abram a great nation, and would bless him. So, because Abram had more faith and is more obedient than I, he did as God said without needing to know the end destination (Genesis 12:4). He took his wife, Sarai and his nephew, Lot. They traveled on and made a stop in Egypt, where Abram(aham) made a dumb decision before they all made a fancy exit by being escorted out of town by Pharaoh's men.
And after that highly accurate and in-depth summary of chapter 12, we arrive at Genesis 13. Abram was very rich...lots of livestock, silver and gold. He and Lot had acquired so much that they couldn't live in the same place anymore because the area couldn't support that much livestock. So, to keep the peace and the good relationship between them (and the livestock from croaking), Abram told Lot that they should separate but that Lot could choose where he wanted to go. Lot could take the first pick, and Abram would take whatever Lot didn't want. He presented Lot with one of those options that sometimes comes along in life.
Lot did what most of us would do. "Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere...like the garden of the Lord...So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan..." (Genesis 13:10-11)
To the normal dude, this probably seems like the wisest choice he could possibly make. He needs to feed the livestock, he's been given a choice...why not make the choice that was obviously best by picking the land that was well watered, right? Yeah...it's only the best choice to a normal dude. As Christians, we're not supposed to be going through life "normally". Picking the best land also meant that Lot was choosing to live near Sodom, the Old Testament's "City of Sin". (And what happened in Sodom did not stay in Sodom, it's been published in the most popular book on the planet.) He was choosing the best land...but he may not have realized that in doing so he was essentially choosing man's ways over God's ways. Choosing to throw himself (and his "lot", get it?) in with the crud, all for the sake of a watering hole. And what did the Lord say to Abram, after Lot went on his merry way? "Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are...for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever..." (verses 14-15).
How like God to wait until Lot had left to share this prime little piece of info with Abram(aham). How like God to wait and see what we're going to do, how like Him to give us a chance to execute our free will. He didn't say "go this way and keep all the land, go that way to Sodom and get baked like a brownie" (See my "Truth Proof" blog regarding Sodom and Gomorrah)...He let them make the decision and then the consequences of each was revealed to each, either directly by God or just through the unfolding of life.
When options present themselves, we gravitate toward the ones that seem the best "logically". Best watered, best gas mileage, best location, best pay, best hours...But God's ways are higher. Instead of looking around to survey the possible outcomes with our natural eyes, we need to be able to stop and lift our eyes to the Lord. To see things through His eyes, and not only that, but to accept his direction without question.
Genesis 15:6 says this of Abram, "Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness." God credited Abram with being righteous because of his belief. Instead of trying to pursue righteousness by doing A B and C, we are righteous through our belief. When we believe God, we walk in His ways and are not only blessed for our obedience, but we end up living lives that reflect Christ naturally.
We need to weigh our options...not against the world's standards, but against God's. And when we receive that direction from the Lord, we need to stick to it. In Genesis 16, Sarai, Abram's wife, was tired of waiting for the children God had promised her (she was barren), and she took matters into her own hands. It didn't quite work out the way she'd planned, and maybe that could have been the end of it. "And so, Sarai and Abramaham screwed up again, this time losing all the promises of the Lord and were doomed to go join Lot in the disco 'inferno'." But nope...through God's mercy and grace they were able to get their focus back on God, back on His plan, and God blessed them even though they'd taken an unfortunate detour.
After reading these scriptures, I'm encouraged to continue to seek God in my decisions. And after I've made them, to stick by them. Other people, who see things "normally", may not understand them. May not understand why I haven't accepted that promotion at work, or why I live where I do. But that's because I'm waiting. Waiting on the Lord, because I'd rather go where He leads the first time than have to run back to Him to fix my mistakes. I've gone that route before and it's painful. I want to be someone that God can depend on to be obedient, and who He credits with righteousness, not with unbelief.
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