KEY SCRIPTURE: Genesis 19:5-8

And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.

RELEVANCE

We're all heroes to ourselves—that is, until we are confronted with a situation greater than we expect and more intense than our minds are accustomed to encountering. Then, some of us babble, get confused and often enter hysteria. In all this, we frequently make regretful decisions that we'd love to reverse. 

Every reader of Genesis 19—the chapter of Lot, Sodom, the visiting Angels, and his two virgin daughters—has been perplexed by the decision Lot made to offer his daughters to that deplorable gang of legged demons in a moment of fear and panic.

There was no time for rehearsals or reciting what he should have/could say. The situation, one that none of us would like to be put through, was upon him in an instant. Within a couple of hours, his day went from normal to paranormal, and the responsibility for a solution was on his shoulders alone.

The sodomites wanted, no, demanded, the visitors. Lot offered his daughters instead. Which, for us, is a bewildering action, even a betrayal of all his paternal principles, whether inbuilt or learned.

We've all convinced ourselves that we would have done it differently, found another way through the dialogue, reached a different type of agreement, or even got a quick message to the local town mayor or guards. Let me tell you, nothing like that would have been possible. If any of us have that thought, we're dreaming! 

The key to the pressure on Lot is found in verse 4: But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter.

Slowly reread this verse. Home invasions put people in fear with only 4-5 invaders busting down the door—and that is today with mobile phones to quickly communicate to the Police. In Lot's predicament, we have possibly 50-100 sexually charged males of all ages from every part of town, with one intention—to get Lot's visitors. Some of them may have been the town officials we would want to call. Think about it. 

On our current News, we see willfully defiant, rabid mobs foaming out their demands, which even the Police cannot reason with. Imagine them outside pounding on your doors and windows. How calm and confident would you be?

You may have made a very different decision under all that pressure—I hope so—but let's not fool ourselves; pressure it was. 

God does not explain Lot's decision, and I am not excusing it. I am simply trying to bring some reality to his situation, for which everyone has judged him. I'm sure there are a few of our decisions we'd like erased from memory or at least have a chance at doing them again. 

Let's be a little easier on the guy and season our judgment with grace and perspective. Even with that decision under his belt, the Apostle Peter called him "Just Lot." 

PRAYER

Dear Lord, please help me pause longer at difficult scriptural situations to see the reality within. Too often I've glanced over them, judged what I would do and moved on. I can see the pressure Lot was under to make any decision, let alone one as difficult as that. Thank you for including it in your History. 

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