Our life is a bit like driving on a freeway. It can be hectic and always feel like peak hour, or it can be a consistent and steady flow. As we drive along on those freeways I’ve discovered it’s imperative to choose the correct lane, so as to get to where we want to go. Take the wrong lane, fail to merge or be inattentive, and we’ll end up taking the wrong exit, miss our turn off or end up in a pile up. One small turning point, one decision determines the outcome of our journey and destination.
Many choices in life are like that. At the time they don’t seem significant, like initially choosing the wrong lane. But those choices set in motion a series of events, which shape our life and even the lives of our children and grandchildren after us.
Many stories in life begin with seemingly insignificant decisions, but those decisions are the ones that lead to relationships, opportunities, and even our coming to know Jesus. Those decisions forever affect our lives, not to mention future generations.
Sometimes we can make unwise choices, which aren’t momentous in themselves, but they lead to tragedies.
There is a story in the bible about Lot, in Genesis 13:5-18. It’s a story of Lot’s choice and it teaches us a crucial lesson about life’s choices:
The herdsmen of Lot and of Abram were quarreling because there wasn’t adequate land to support all their flocks. So Abram gave Lot his choice of where to settle. Lot surveyed the land and decided to move down into the fertile Jordan valley. That choice was the beginning of Lot’s gradual but steady decline. First he looked toward Sodom (13:10). Then he moved his tents near Sodom (13:12). Next we find him living in Sodom (14:12). Finally he is sitting in the gate of Sodom.
As a result Lot lost his wife, barely escaped with his own life and his two daughters, and the last we hear of him he’s hiding in a cave where his daughters (who were raised surrounded by depravity and sinfulness) encouraged him to become drunk and commit incest with him. The offspring conceived become the Moabites and the Ammonites; who later became two of Abraham family’s biggest enemies. But it all began with Lot’s choice to live near Sodom.
Sounds dramatic I know. But it’s the choices we make that direct our steps, and everything in our life is a reflection of those choices. Some choices do have significant eternal consequences.
We tend to think of being a Christian as a bold decision to let go of everything and follow Jesus. That is true. We all have opportunity to make that once and for all commitment. Lot had done that. He had left his family and friends in Ur to go with Abram to the Promised Land on God’s command.
Lot’s problem, like many people who respond to God’s love for them, was in following through; in walking step by step, allowing God to be the GPS. It is in choosing to say no to the things of this world based on our relationship and commitment to God’s and following His directions.
Fortunately God is a great restorer. None of us need end up like Lot and his family. With Him we can all get back in the right lane. He’s like our GPS. We just have to choose to connect Him up to our life, and keep listening. The key is to not be always thinking we know a better route or a great short cut. That usually results in us hitting a traffic jam or going completely in the wrong direction.
Today if you feel like you are in the wrong lane, stop and allow God to get you back on track. Let Him be your GPS. Ask Him to help you get back on the right road. Then start to listen and trust Him, and He will direct your every step.
“Trust the Lord with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding. In all our ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
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