By Canaan Chapman
Have you ever been stuck in traffic? Many know the feeling, slowly inching forward while your blood pressure rises and the tempers of other drivers around you shorten with each passing second. To me, driving is such a banal experience, so much so that it’s something many of us don’t think about while we’re doing it. But mundane situations like traffic can turn into a fast-paced race when resources (like a moving lane!) are limited.
The story of Abram and Lot, as we read in today’s passage, gives what I found to be a surprising parallel to this. Abram, in following God’s instructions, made it to the promised land of Canaan. Though God’s command was to leave his family, his nephew Lot came along. The story tells us that both men were blessed with livestock to support and tend to (a potentially mundane task for these men), but the land couldn’t support them both. Tension arose and a friction point was created when they realized the limited resources of good grazing became something over which they were losing mutual peace.
Instead of fighting it out with Lot for the best grazing land, he prioritized the relationship. Abram knew that God would provide no matter what, so they could separate the land generously. I can also imagine that the people in the land were watching this group closely. How were these nomadic men following a God that was completely different from their idols going to handle disagreement? In this case, we see Abram chose the peaceful path.
From this story, I see a call to pursue righteousness, faith, love, and gentleness (1Timothy 6:11–19). In tense or even mundane moments in our life, can we say we’re living out of these things? When I read 1 Timothy 6:17–19 specifically, I think about the wealth of livestock, possessions, and land of Abram and Lot. Maybe Lot was influenced to choose what he thought was the richest option. Scripture tells us to be “rich in good works,” something I know I could be considerate of. But in the face of those real-life decisions, can we put the well-being of others before our own desires? Can we cultivate a spirit of generosity that reflects the heart of God? Can we metaphorically let that person merge in front of us when we really want to get to our destination?
Let’s commit to thinking about the pain points in our life and where we can look out for the interests of others and trust God with the blessing.
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