“So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.” Then Lot said to them, “Please, no, my lords! Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die. See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.” And he said to him, “See, I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrown this city for which you have spoken. Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.”
Genesis 19:17-22
As I consider this passage I’m convicted and driven to praise the Lord at the same time. There has been so many times in my personal life that I, like Lot, have tried to negotiate the way my life should go with the Lord. God sends a team of angels to get Lot out of the mess he’s in, and what does Lot do? He does things his own way yet again, instead of cooperating with the rescue he starts dictating his destination, his questions and hesitancy end up limiting what God was seeking to do in his life.
God said, “Go to the mountains.”
In the bible the mountains represent consistency, solidity, security, and power. When meeting with God to find their power, security, and solidity of faith men like Abraham, Moses, Elijah, David, and later Jesus would go up to the mountains to meet with the Father. Here we see God telling Lot, “I know your needs, and because I love you and I want to supply your needs, I’m telling you where to go.”
Lot said, “I cannot go there lest some evil overtake me and I die, let me go to Zoar.”
Zoar literally means “Insignificant in Size”; ironically we see that Lot’s desired destination held the same proportion as his faith.
So many times in scripture we see that in proportion to one’s faith was the miracle carried out. The blind man, the leper, the woman who touched the hem of the garment, in proportion to their faith they received vision, the ability to walk, and a healthy life. In the same way when we by faith go to Jesus and trust him in our ailing state we will receive fresh sight for our situations, we’ll be able to walk through life like never before, and we’ll have a healthy balance in our lives. I’ve also found that when I ask for the easy way out, the road with fewer obstacles, my faith shrinks to be tiny like Zoar.
“For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
Luke 11:10-13
The truth is if I’m asking for small blessings, and I want to settle for small faith, God will give it. However our small portion isn’t reflecting God’s heart, No, on the contrary God desires to lavish abundance on our souls. The angels didn’t argue with Lot, and they won’t argue with you. Lot was allowed to go to Zoar as he wished. Why? John 14 tells us that Obedience is an act of love, not of obligation. To truly love the Lord we must be willing to commit ourselves to obedience and submit ourselves to His goodness. Lot chose to do neither and found insignificance in Zoar, and when we choose to do the same we will miss out on the massive wonders that God desires to put in our lives.
