Settled

Scripture(s)

(NLT) 6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

(NLT) 7 But God also RESCUED Lot out of Sodom because he was a RIGHTEOUS man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him. 8 Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day.

(NKJV) 4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

(NKJV) 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

Explanation

Paul was well aware that we have a spiritual enemy that is masterful at keeping us from accomplishing our goals. The enemy isn’t as much concerned about you getting first downs as long as he keeps you from scoring. The enemy isn’t as concerned about your gains as long as he stops your goals. Today I want to look at the life of Lot and learn from his highs and lows to ensure we establish the proper strategy so that we reach our goals.

Illustration

I absolutely love stick shifts. I think there is nothing more manly then changing gears. I think the thing I love most is having direct control of the power. I still vividly remember wanting to pass this incredible skill to my wife. After explaining everything to her, we drove around the parking lot and she did great. We decided to take it to the road. We set the destination and we were off. What occurred to me is I didn't do a good job at telling her how to engage the clutch on stops she had a hard time learning how to engage the clutch. She kept stalling out. The instrument panel went into high alert. So all signs pointed to the cars truck, hood, doors are all open. Battery is dead and I need an oil change. Life looks like this sometimes. The instrument panel of life is screaming at us and telling us to get out.

Transition

To stall means to come to a stand still. To be rendered immobile. To lose momentum. This looks a lot like us, missing our transitions, not engaging the clutch and stalling out. Lot’s name means covering or veiled. I believe we all have a calling on our life that the enemy wants to keep veiled. Let’s look at his journey.

Observations/Thoughts

Don't Settle for what you feel (Familiar)

Lot had an unfortunate set back early in his life. We aren’t told of the exact circumstance but we learn that he lost his father, Haran, while he was still young. He was then raised by his grandfather, Terah and his uncle, Abram. Terah was compelled to lead his family from Ur to Cannan but they made a pit stop in an area called Haran. Notice that the name of the neighborhood is the exact same name as their deceased loved one. I can imagine after journeying for sometime when they arrived at this quaint town they were surprised, even excited to learn it shared the same name their fallen relative. They must have thought it was a sign of some sort. Perhaps this is the location they were supposed to stay as a way to honor Haran. So even though they set their GPS coordinates to go to Cannan, they settled in Haran. They settled! They settled for the familiar. Pit stops can be a pit fall when we lose perspective. What do you do when you are trying to move forward only to be tempted by the past? They settled in mediocrity even though God was calling them to something better. I wander if there are times when we forfeit the greater for the familiar? Familiar relationships. Familiar friends. Familiar jobs. I am the first to admit I am a creature of habit. Once I lock in on something that I like, I pretty much stick with it. When I go out to eat is a perfect example. My struggle is, while I want to explore new things, I am often too hungry to experiment and be disappointed. So, I generally get the same things. I went out to eat with my wife and she convinced me to taste what she had. I reluctantly agreed and was blown away at how much better her meal was than mine. Naturally, I couldn’t tell her this but my taste buds were breakdancing. My comfort allowed me to miss something better. The bible says taste and see that The Lord is good, but I wonder if we look at the menu of grace and settle for appetizers when God has full course blessings for us. There are moments when we are distracted by the ghosts of the past. Familiarity creates comfort, but I’ve never seen comfortable people do big things for God. Don’t let the memories of what was cause you to lose sight of what will be. The thing we have to remember about ghosts are…there’s a presence but there’s no substance. Complacency is the enemy of ambition. Some of us are being haunted by the ghost of what was and miss what will be. The enemy of being great is being good.

(NLT) One day Terah took his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai (his son Abram’s wife), and his grandson Lot (his son Haran’s child) and moved away from Ur of the Chaldeans. He was headed for the land of Canaan, but they stopped at Haran and settled there.

(NKJV) “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

Lot had the example modeled to him that it’s ok to settle. It wasn’t long before Lot had another setback. He saw his grandfather die. He’s lost his father, settled for the familiar in leu of the promise, then lost his grandfather. Now Lot has been passed on to his uncle. Abram leaves the familiar in pursuit of the promise and actually arrives there BUT when a famine hit Abram went to Egypt. It didn’t work out for them there. You may find that you are unsettled where you currently are, that may be God telling you to not get comfortable; this isn’t where I’ve called you to be. Abram and his family did accumulate a great deal of wealth while they were there. Here’s what you need to see, when the promise doesn’t look promising we look for relief in the world. Unknowingly Abram modeled for Lot how to compromise. When you allow compromise to enter the bloodstream of your faith, it dilutes your walk with God and corrupts your spiritual immune system. This causes you to be vulnerable to the germs of doubt, fear, condemnation, the past. He made the promise common.

Terah lived 205 years and died in Haran.

He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the people he had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,

There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine in the land was severe.

Don't Settle for What You See (Baggage)

After returning to the promised land, we now see conflict arise. Turns out the wealth that Abram and Lot accumulated was now too extensive for both of them to continue to live together. What once was sufficient was now incapable of sustaining them. It was the overflow of what they brought with them from Egypt. The baggage we bring from Egypt will crowd out the promise. The baggage we bring from the world will rob us of unity and peace. What are the compromising items that you’re carrying that’s keeping you from experiencing peace? Abram being the problem solver says that the two should separate in order to keeps peace. He gives his nephew the choice of location and Lot did what many of us do, he lifted up his eyes chose the area that looked the most promising. It looked good but the problem is, it was located in the area of Sodom which was a place saturated with sin and unhealthy. It reminds me of a time when I was watching TV late one night. Then an ad came on for a burger. It looked great. I went and the experience was horrible, they were sold out of the burger I wanted. I ended up getting something else that didn’t look like it did on the menu. There are times when we fall victim to false advertising. There are always side effects to sin. However, there is side effects to walking with God: joy, peace, love, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness. The side effect of walking with the world is HOLES, the side effect to God is being WHOLE. This is why we walk by faith…NOT by sight! Many of you may be in a season where you need to make a decision. I want to help you. First and foremost you need to understand that it is not a lack of faith to count the cost. We should hear from God and seek council. That said, God’s grace meets you at the place of your decision. Wherever you place your feet, is blessed. You are not blessed because of where you are, where you are is blessed because of you. The promise land was simply the environment that God called Abraham to because it could sustain the blessing on his life. The blessing isn’t in the destination, it’s in the one that destined you for greatness. We often struggle to make a move because we are waiting for the clouds to part or we are looking at the wrong thing. Lot lifted up his eyes and noticed that Sodom was well watered like Egypt or Eden. He couldn’t even distinguish what was God and what was sin because he was looking at the fruit and missed the root. It’s possible to be covered by the grace of God but not under the will of God. The posture of the heart is a determining factor. If Lot went to Sodom as a mission field God would have absolutely blessed him. But he went looking for prosperity and opportunity. This ultimately led to his bondage.

(NLT) But the land could not support both Abram and Lot with all their flocks and herds living so close together. 7 So disputes broke out between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot. (At that time Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land.) 8 Finally Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not allow this conflict to come between us or our herdsmen. After all, we are close relatives! 9 The whole countryside is open to you. Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate. If you want the land to the left, then I’ll take the land on the right. If you prefer the land on the right, then I’ll go to the left.” 10 Lot took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley in the direction of Zoar. The whole area was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the Lord or the beautiful land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 Lot chose for himself the whole Jordan Valley to the east of them. He went there with his flocks and servants and parted company with his uncle Abram. 12 So Abram settled in the land of Canaan, and Lot moved his tents to a place near Sodom and settled among the cities of the plain. 13 But the people of this area were extremely wicked and constantly sinned against the Lord.

(NKJV) But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

(NKJV) For we walk by faith, not by sight.

(NIV) 12 There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.

(NKJV) 21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

(NKJV) 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

(ESV) 15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

(ESV) 25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

(NKJV) 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it

Don’t Settle for What you Hear (Insignificant)

Don’t Settle for What you Hear (Insignificant)

After being rescued once, Lot went right back to the place that put in him bondage. God decided that it was time for Sodom’s legacy to come to an end. This should serve as encouragement for someone; you may be under burdens and oppression but God is about to bring relief. God took him by the hand and led him out of the city. Lot is instructed to pack up his family and leave. Lot is told to leave and don’t look back. Lot’s wife looks back and is consumed. In other words, she lingered in her past long enough until it consumed her. Lot has lost his father, grandfather, separated from his uncle and has now lost his wife. Lot has dealt with a lot of loss in his life, but God was still with him. You may have a lot of loss but be encouraged, God is still with you. A life of compromise keeps us from moving forward. God instructs Lot on where to go, to the mountain tops but Lot says it wasn’t safe so he asked to go to a little town called Zoar. Zoar means insignificant. God rescued Lot to take take him to the mountain top but Lot found refuge in the insignificant. Don’t settle for the insignificant when God is calling you to the mountain top. We sometimes struggle with seeing our potential and we settle or compromise for the little town. The little dreams. Climbing the mountain shouldn’t be scary to you when you allow God to carry you.

(NLT) — 12 Meanwhile, the angels questioned Lot. “Do you have any other relatives here in the city?” they asked. “Get them out of this place—your sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone else. 13 For we are about to destroy this city completely. The outcry against this place is so great it has reached the Lord, and he has sent us to destroy it.”

(NLT) 16 When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the Lord was merciful. 17 When they were safely out of the city, one of the angels ordered, “Run for your lives! And don’t look back or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away!”18 “Oh no, my lord!” Lot begged. 19 “You have been so gracious to me and saved my life, and you have shown such great kindness. But I cannot go to the mountains. Disaster would catch up to me there, and I would soon die. 20 See, there is a small village nearby. Please let me go there instead; don’t you see how small it is? Then my life will be saved.”

Closing

Stalled Not Stranded

Lot ended up drunk in a cave with his daughters and fathering 2 children through incest. It’s crazy that the very behavior he had to escape from, he fell in to. We don’t hear directly from Lot anymore after this. Many would say that’s the end of his story. I recall when I was teaching my wife how to drive, after she stalled she got frustrated and wanted to give up. I told her you’re stalled not stranded. I know the symptoms look the same, but all you have to do is engage the clutch, turn the ignition and put it in gear.

Examples/References

Peter Stalled but wasn’t stranded

Moses stalled but wasn’t stranded

Thomas stalled but wasn’t stranded

Elijah stalled but wasn’t stranded

Sampson stalled but wasn’t stranded

David stalled but wasn’t stranded

Alter

Interestingly enough, Lot’s sons/grandsons turn out to be the Ammonites and the Moabites. Though both of these tribes have proven to be a headache for the Children of Israel, they both also served as a covering and are considered to be the very bloodline that was used to bring the Gentiles into salvation through Jesus. Lot was stalled, but wasn’t stranded. This is a message for someone in here tonight, you may be stalled but you’re not stranded.

(NLT) 7 But God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him. 8 Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day.