Collateral Blessings
With Sodom and Gomorrah annihilated and his backward-looking wife turned into a pillar of salt, Lot is now a widower alone with his two daughters in the nearby town of Zoar… but at least the three of them are safe.
A couple of lessons ago (See “YES”) we saw Abraham pleading, even bargaining, on behalf of Sodom and God agreeing to spare its destruction if ten righteous people could be found there.
In the end, Sodom didn’t have what it took to save itself, but God did everything it took to save Lot (“He Who Hesitates”) … to the point of having him drug out of the city when he hesitated to leave.
God went to a lot of trouble for Lot…or did He?
It’s normal to assume the blessings that come to us are meant for us. Thankfully, we don’t make the same assumption about every bad thing we experience. After all, we’re always dealing with fallout of consequences that weren’t intended for us; someone makes a poor choice and everyone around suffers a little bit of the backlash.
How often do blessings come our way in the exact same manner…not because of any good decision we made or anything we did or deserved but because someone else was being blessed and some of that goodness flowed over onto us? We might all be amazed if we knew how many of the gifts we enjoy in life have someone else’s name listed first on the gift tag!
What might be even more amazing is knowing how many “especially for you” blessings come at the request of someone who thinks enough of us to ask for them.
I think we all have times… whether through lack of awareness, some kind of emotional upheaval, pride, apathy or just a sense of being overwhelmed… when we struggle to even know what we need, let alone ask for it. At those times, let’s hope there’s at least one person in our lives who will be sensitive enough to our dilemma and distraught enough about our pain to approach God on our behalf.
There is no telling how many blessings have come nor how many times I’ve been plucked off the brink of some disaster I didn’t even see coming because God was busy answering someone else’s prayer.
I wonder if Lot ever had any idea of what lay behind his salvation or the effort and love that went into that plan.
Where would any of us be without those precious souls who at times seem more committed to our good than even we are?
Lot’s story reminds us to be appreciative of and grateful to those special people in our lives. They are too precious to be taken for granted.
Though I’m definitely the “Lot” in this story, I so wish I identified more strongly with the “Abraham” side of it. How wonderful to be the reason for a great blessing in the life of someone else!
Abraham’s example challenges me to do a much better job at being an advocate for others.
“Overflow” blessings and those marked “Especially for You”… may you have an abundance of both.
On top of them all, I wish you the joy of watching “Because of You” blessings come to life all around you. Until next time, Kim