Reclaiming the Truth
“Now Lot went up out of Zoar and lived in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters.” – Genesis 19:30
Redeeming the Time
Have you ever felt a letdown after a significant event or season in your life? Maybe you found yourself asking, “What now?” In our story, the region has now been ransacked by war, and Lot has been captured, then rescued and now returns home. What now? What happens after the peril wanes and the sensation of the rescue wears off?
A crisis has a way of making the important truths in life very clear. Our values are crystalized and our priorities made clear, but when the dust has settled and life has resumed its regular pattern, it can be easy to drift back into habits and patterns we know are not best for us.
The story of Lot reminds us of the dangers when we don’t let the reality of redemption take root in our lives. Lot is mentioned several times in four straight chapters of Genesis (11-14), but then not again until Genesis 19. Here, Lot is again the subject of a great rescue. Once again, Abram plays a pivotal role in Lot’s rescue, this time in advance of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Genesis 19 ends with the final mention of Lot, and it is not a pretty scene. Take a few minutes and look up the story for yourself. How does someone who has been rescued twice fail to walk in the freedom and blessing of that love?
It seems so obvious when we look at the story of Lot, but it is probably a little more challenging when we think about our own stories. I was lost and promised eternal death, but Jesus showed up to make a way for me to experience life. An incredibly high price was paid for my redemption and yours because the Redeemer loves us that much. Our redemption was paid for so we could live in the freedom that redemption provides. Galatians 5:1 reminds us that, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
May our stories look different than Lot’s story as we live in the reality of God’s redemption. We have been redeemed and God will continue to rescue when we call, but let us be people who seek to live in the freedom that God provides.
Reflection
- When have you found yourself drifting back to old practices and patterns?
- How do you find yourself drifting away from the reality of your redemption in Christ?
- Whom do you have in your life who encourages you to live as a redeemed child of the King?
Resting in His Redemption
Psalm 107 is entitled, “Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So” and is a declaration of what God has done for his people. Before you read this beautiful Psalm, I want to draw your attention to three things that I hope will encourage you today:
1) The Psalm begins and ends speaking of God’s “steadfast love.”
2) Verses 6, 13, 19, 28 all repeat the same line:
“Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.”
3) This cry of desperation is followed every time in a subsequent verse with the line:
“Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!”
Receive Psalm 107 and rest in the truth that our God is able to deliver us from any trouble, and His love is forever steadfast. Once redeemed, God will continue to rescue us because that’s what steadfast love does.
Psalm 107
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
whom he has redeemed from trouble
3 and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
4 Some wandered in desert wastes,
finding no way to a city to dwell in;
5 hungry and thirsty,
their soul fainted within them.
6 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them by a straight way
till they reached a city to dwell in.
8 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
For he satisfies the longing soul,
and the hungry soul he fills with good things.
10 Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
prisoners in affliction and in irons,
11 for they had rebelled against the words of God,
and spurned the counsel of the Most High
So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor;
they fell down, with none to help.
13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
and burst their bonds apart.
15 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
16 For he shatters the doors of bronze
and cuts in two the bars of iron.
17 Some were fools through their sinful ways,
and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;
18 they loathed any kind of food,
and they drew near to the gates of death.
19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
20 He sent out his word and healed them,
and delivered them from their destruction.
21 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
22 And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!
23 Some went down to the sea in ships,
doing business on the great waters;
24 they saw the deeds of the Lord,
his wondrous works in the deep.
25 For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
which lifted up the waves of the sea.
26 They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;
their courage melted away in their evil plight;
27 they reeled and staggered like drunken men
and were at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
29 He made the storm be still,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 Then they were glad that the waters were quiet,
and he brought them to their desired haven.
31 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
32 Let them extol him in the congregation of the people,
and praise him in the assembly of the elders.
33 He turns rivers into a desert,
springs of water into thirsty ground,
34 a fruitful land into a salty waste,
because of the evil of its inhabitants.
35 He turns a desert into pools of water,
a parched land into springs of water.
36 And there he lets the hungry dwell,
and they establish a city to live in;
37 they sow fields and plant vineyards
and get a fruitful yield.
38 By his blessing they multiply greatly,
and he does not let their livestock diminish.
39 When they are diminished and brought low
through oppression, evil, and sorrow,
40 he pours contempt on princes
and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
41 but he raises up the needy out of affliction
and makes their families like flocks.
42 The upright see it and are glad,
and all wickedness shuts its mouth.
43 Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things;
let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.“
