Go to the Mountain

Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!
Genesis 19:15-26

In Genesis we read of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham asks God to spare Lot and his family and God agrees and send angels to rush Lot out of the city so that it can be destroyed.
Once out of the city the angels tell Lot, his wife and two daughters to flee for the lives, not to stop and not to look back but to flee to the mountains. Lot then pleads with the angels to let him go to a small town off in the distance instead because he felt he might be overtaken by the destruction and would die.

Lot chose a small town with very few people, over a mountain. How many times do we do that in our own lives? We choose the small and manageable over the huge and risky. We choose things just within easy reach rather than something that will take more effort and take longer.

Lot not only chose a town not very far from Sodom but one that he could see in the distance from outside of Sodom which meant that his view of Sodom would be plainly seen from the town. We too tend to move just far enough away to still see the past. We glance back on it and sometimes even long for the days gone by. Like the Israelite's in the desert who fled the Egyptian's slavery. They too thought going back was preferable. I get it. When things get tough the past always looks better. Transition and change can be unsettling and we feel uncomfortable so we feel that maybe it would be better if we went back because at least it was familiar.

What would happen if we fled to the mountains?
 Psalm 121 Says: I lift up my eyes to the mountains.
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Maker of Heaven and Earth.
He will not let your foot slip
he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
 will neither slumber nor sleep
The Lord watches over you
 the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The lord will keep you from all harm
he will watch over you life;
the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

When we lift up our eyes to the mountains we change our perspective from the small things in our lives to how big God is. He was not going to lead Lot out of Sodom and only protect him as far as a small town. The Lord even sent angels to protect him and lead him out but he thought that he would die on the way to the mountain. When God tells you to go His plans will work out for the good. He doesn't tell you to change without a plan. You see Lot was seeing on a one dimensional plain. He saw the small picture. Had he gone to the mountain his perspective would've been greater.
In the natural we like things to be rational. We see with limited sight. When we change how we see from the natural to the spiritual we see differently. Things will be three dimensional.

Lot's wife did not have a very good ending for when she and Lot arrived in the small town she looked back longingly at Sodom being destroyed and she turned into a pillar of salt. Sodom was not a very nice place at all. It was a place filled with lawlessness and so much so that Abraham struggled to find anyone that was holy in even a small way. When we look back and long for what was, we can become hardened and bitter. Things don't always work out as we had planned. The past can be hurtful. It can hold some fond memories even. Though to grow we need to move forward and leave the past where it is. Paul says in Hebrews 12:1-3 that we are to throw off anything that hinders us and run with perseverance the race that has been been marked out for us and fix our eyes on Jesus, who is our rock and strong mountain.

Can I encourage you today that if you are struggling with your past, I know it isn't easy to let go. The pull of who we were can be so strong but it is not impossible. We just need to resolve that the past is not in itself bad but longing for its return is not a good idea because it keeps us stuck in the small places. When we shake off the past that is hindering us we step into big places filled with promise and purpose. When we are in the mountains we go up a level, we look down on our past from a bigger perspective and it becomes small in the distance. When we have different perspective on our past we can see the bigger plan. When we are too close to our past we cannot see the big picture.
God is all about the big picture and He uses the things we learn in our past to serve our future and help others run the race marked out for them. That is why we do not run this race alone.

Maybe it is time for you to leave your past in the past and embrace a new future. God will use your past for the good but let God use your past, don't work it out on your own. Maybe it is a sin that you cannot shake or a hurt that constantly reminds you of an event. Step out and flee to the big spaces of the mountain. God will not leave you or forsake you. You will not die but you will live to run the most amazing race that He has marked out just for you.

Father thank you that you have so much more planned for us than our small minds can imagine. Help us to embrace your big plan for our lives even when it is scary and we are unable to comprehend it. We trust that You will guide us through just as You have done so many times before for us and others who have gone before us.  Amen