Hidden Dangers

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. Genesis 19:16

BACK IN GENESIS 13, we read that Lot surveyed the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley and chose to settle there. When he took that long look, did he not see what Moses later wrote about that place? “The people of this area were extremely wicked and constantly sinned against the LORD” (Genesis 13:13). Yes, it was fertile, but it was also perilous. Lot seemed so enamored by the obvious comforts that he ignored the hidden dangers.

As Lot and his family made their home in Sodom, they evidently became desensitized to the pervasive sin and evil. Even when the wickedness in the city threatened his daughters, and even though he was warned of the coming destruction, Lot “hesitated” to leave. Clearly he and his family were in need of a rescuer who would overcome their attraction to the city. If Lot and his family were dependent upon their own wisdom, their own response, their own choices, they would have been destroyed with the rest of Sodom. But at the center of this horrific, even sickening, story, we find hope. Though Lot and his wife and daughters had been seduced by the allures of Sodom and lulled into ignoring the danger, and though they were far too slow in turning away from the evil of the city, the Lord was gracious. In mercy, he saved those who had closed their eyes to danger as they made themselves at home in the world.

Lord, give us eyes to see the hidden dangers in what may look good on the surface as our children move out of our home and into the world. Give ________ discernment beyond her years to wisely assess opportunities that are presented to her. Even as ________ seeks to be salt and light in the world, keep her from losing her saltiness and being pressed into the world’s mold. Don’t let ________ become desensitized to sin and evil. And as you write our family’s story, would you make it a story of your mercy? May your mercy overcome our compromise and outweigh the influence of our surroundings.