Follow Him..

How similar is the United States to ancient Sodom? How similar are we to Lot? Today it was on my mind. Lot chose to go to Sodom for no other reasons than financial gain. Lot was a righteous man. He loved God. He followed God, pretty faithfully too. Then he chose to move to a fertile and economically promising land for his own gain. Sodom was filled with wickedness. Lot knew this. How often do we make decisions that will give us financial benefit or “status”. How many people drive the most expensive cars that they can barely afford just because they care about how they look to others? How often do people find themselves trying to keep up with the “Jones”? What about the things we do as parents to try and gain better financial situations, especially today with how expensive EVERYTHING is. Desperation can bring on some pretty strong temptations. The temptations for a better life. Everyone wants to be able to afford groceries and basic human necessities. 

Once Lot started ignoring wickedness just so he could make a dollar, his life literally fell apart. Once he surrounded himself with evil, his standards for God got pretty darn low. Look at what he was willing to put his daughters through when the Angels came to get him out of Sodom. I mean…. Yikes. His wife turned to a pillar of salt. She couldn’t keep her eyes towards God but kept looking back at the luxurious life she was leaving behind. Not to mention his daughters wickedly taking advantage of him. Can you imagine being a grandparent to someone you are also a parent to? Biologically? These are just some of the terrible things he went through.

 Today the world is no different than Sodom or at least very, very, similar. You can barely enjoy entertainment without some sexual agenda being pushed in your face. Women getting abortions are praised for “putting their careers first” and even encouraged. So much to the point women across our country are actually reliant on them.  What about encouraging mothers to be with help instead? Lies are everywhere. People are confused about what gender God biologically made them. People put their faith in political leaders to save the world and claim to follow God. (idolatry) Not getting married is encouraged. Our society is all about the ME, ME, ME! Lives are run by social media constantly comparing ourselves to the lives of people. With what we think we know because of post worthy pictures on the internet. If you are Christian you are mocked. But it’s completely unacceptable to say anything agreeing about other religions. Yet it’s okay to mock the God of the universe. 

I don’t know if anyone else prays begging Jesus to return. But I sure do. The good news is we don’t have to accept the wickedness or defend it. We don’t need to care about fitting in. Put the phone down. We can raise Godly offspring. Trust God and Treasure him. Let Lot's life be an example of what happens when we quit trusting him and do it our own ways. Get our hearts unset on our “Sodoms” and set them on the heavenly city. God knows our every need. I know I have been in situations I did not think would be possible to overcome. Putting enough food on the table, being able to pay bills so we would have electricity or even a roof over my children's heads. You know how many times they or I have starved? ZERO times. Because our God is a way maker. He always provides. Trusting him isn’t easy but I promise once you do. Once you really start putting all your trust in his hands, and stop carrying that worry around. It gets a lot easier than it was. He might not always answer the way we would prefer. He will answer though. Hindsight is 20/20 my friends. We might not and probably won't realize it when it’s happening but eventually it will make sense. The journey to prosperity is long, hard and painful. We must struggle to become who God wants us to be. That is how our faith is strengthened. When we don't trust him and do it “our” way or the “worldly” way we inevitably make things harder for ourselves. Just read Genesis if you need clarification on how horribly wrong things can go when we rely on our selfish desires and not on our creator. I don’t know about you but I can’t wait to live in a mansion for eternity with the creator of the universe!! I pray my riches will be my children and children's children. I pray my ministry in my home lasts over thousands of generations. That is the goal. We got this because God has got us. I love the saying “you become what you consume.” Don’t consume sin. Consume the Gospel, consume prayer and become faithful rather than a product of this world. I also love the saying “crap rolls downhill”. It really does. Don’t normalize worldly consumption in your home and it won't be normal to your children. Quit picking up phones at the dinner table or in the middle of conversations. Stop watching movies or shows that promote gross violence. Be present in a world designed to keep us distracted. Let your babies witness you deep in scripture. Honor the sabbath together. Get outside, cook something yummy, play games together and pray together enjoy the gifts God has already blessed us with.