Lindsay L. O'Connor

This morning I was reading about Lot and his wife being saved from the fate of destruction for the people of Sodom when I was struck by a verse I don’t remember noticing before. After the Lord commanded Lot to flee with his wife and daughters in order that they would not be “swept away when the city is punished,” Lot hesitated. There is a note in the commentary of my Bible that suggests that his hesitation was perhaps due to an unwillingness to leave his material possessions. Whatever the case may be, I am sure there are times in my life when God commands me to do something and I, being the cautious, sinful, and not-always-trusting-God person that I am, respond with hesitation. Oh, that I might heed my own admonition for my students to comply with “cheerful, prompt” obedience! But, thankfully, God is the God of grace and mercy, responding to His children time and again by blessing us when we do not deserve it and sparing us the utter destruction that we do deserve, even when we are hesitant to accept His salvation. I love what happened when Lot hesitated:

When he hesitated, the men [angels of the Lord] grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them.
~Genesis 19:16

I love the image of the Lord, upon our hesitation, grabbing our hands and leading us to safety when we ourselves are too foolish to heed His warnings. May God bless you today with His grace, mercy, and an increased awareness of it as we seek to know Him more.