The Faith of Abraham vs Lot

The pursuit to understand decision making by faith has brought me to Genesis 13, where the story of Abraham and Lot unfolds; Abraham and Lot were going to go their own separate ways and so Abraham let Lot chose which direction Lot was going, which land Lot desires and then Abraham will settle down in other place.

So Lot begin looking, setting his vision and in the middle of the desert Lot saw a land where water was flowing, the plain of Jordan. The perfect place to settle down, despite its nearness to Sodom, the sin city and so off he went with his train to settle there. Abraham was left behind to choose from the rest of the well..., practically dry land. God then spoke to Abraham; 'Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.'

After some time, Lot had troubles with the neighbouring city of Sodom and Gomorah and in the end he lost everything including his wife who turned into a pillar of salt while Abraham not only obtained the land promised unto him but also descendants like that of dust particles. Today, if we were to stand on Mount Nebo, we can see that promised land, the very dry land Lot had left Abraham with is now green and 'full of flowing milk and honey'. Ironically, the land that Lot chose, what was once full of water is now a dry dessert. It is indeed hard to see from God's eternal point of view.

It is very intriguing how Abraham rested his faith on the power of God and dwell on His promises even when he sees nothing but dry, dusty land. The only thing Abraham has was God's promise and that is enough. He 'walked by faith and not by sight' He didn't chose to live near the wicked. He'd rather live in a dry land with God's promise than in a land of water but full of sin. Meanwhile, Lot chose to live near the wicked and before long, he committed incest with his daughters and lost his wife because of her greed. (I figure that would be an Hermes bag that would turn me into a pillar of salt had that same Lot's wife be repeated on me ;p)

Though the story maybe thousand ages old, but the situation that demands the same principle of decision making remains; to be in the light or in the dark, to have God's promise or the world's promise. It seems unfair at first, be it the big family business that was taken over by first-born uncle leaving our father with very little share or dating a righteous guy who will probably never get you an Hermes bag or being stuck in a small city to tend over factory operation while our sibling get the better job of merely entertaining guests or being the only child to inherit the recessive genes of diseases and on and on. But if we seek God and dwell in His promises, what was once a dry deserted land could be the land full of milk and honey, in His time and in His way. 'Call unto me and I will answer you and tell you great and mighty things, things you do not know...'

Walk by Faith, not by Sight