Making A Split Decision (Carrying Capacity)*

Prayer

Read: Genesis 13:1-18

Genesis 13:1–18 KJV 1900

1 And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south. 2 And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he went on his journeys from the south even to Beth-el, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-el and Hai; 4 Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. 5 And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. 6 And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. 7 And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. 8 And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. 9 Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. 10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. 11 Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. 12 Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. 13 But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. 14 And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: 15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. 16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. 17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. 18 Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord.

Key Verse

Genesis 13:6 KJV 1900

6 And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.

Introduction

When I was a student at the illustrious North Carolina A&T State University, my program of study was Biomedical Engineering. I performed quite well, earning some of the highest and most consistent grades of my undergraduate career but I was not fulfilled. That is a conversation for another time. But I do recall one of the lessons we learned in the course, Concepts in Biology, which was on the concept of Carrying Capacity.

Carry capacity is the notion that an environmental area can only support so many life forms before it reaches carry capacity.

Now you can reach carry capacity and still function. If you have an area with too many deer (which is increasingly becoming a problem in the northern most part of this continent) then the deer may be able to feed on the grass still. But because carry capacity is exceeded the real issue is not enough grass right now but whether enough grass is being produced to meet the needs for the future.

So we spend time exceeding our carrying capacity and because we do not see immediate consequences, we think we can continue behaving as we do not realizing you are hurting the people who come next. You are depriving them of a critical experience.

Sometime your dreams reach carrying capacity where they can only take you so much further.

God told Lot to get out of the country. Now because the two shall become one that includes his wife. But the Lord never said nothing about bringing Lot with him.

But Abram had no children and lot was the closest thing he had to any children. Which is why Abram brought him along. But when God gives you a vision for something, sometimes it reaches carrying capacity where you are not at liberty to keep bring people with you.

A point comes in your life and everyone else’s where you have to step aside from trying to carry the weight and burdens of people you are connected to.

Are you will to let your plane fall out of the sky because you disobeyed its carry capacity.

Will you let your garden fail because you did not heed its carrying capacity.

Without Lot you have no opposition for the Israelites aside from the Egyptians.

So all the times where the faith of the people was challenged and as a consequence made stronger would not exist.

The Lost Tribes that would come forward as a major part of the prophecies in revelations would be impossible because the Tribes were Lost at the hands of those descended from Lot (in part).