You Don’t Have to Be Irritated
2 Peter 2:7( ESV) and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked…
(AMPC) And He rescued righteous Lot, greatly worn out and distressed by the wanton ways of the ungodly and lawless…
Lot was irritated, vexed, worn out, and distressed by the filthy lives of the lawless and ungodly—and it was because of his own choices. He had first chosen life in the plain, then had inched his way closer to Sodom until he was a resident there. (The devil doesn’t mind taking his time to lure you little by little onto his turf and into his traps.) Lot had sought out a life of ease, choosing it over the more rugged lifestyle he would have known up in the mountains (Genesis 13:1-12).
Here in Sodom, he was face-to-face with the wanton sensuality of the wicked—and it wore on him. It distressed him. It vexed him. It exhausted him. It was in his face daily because he lived right there in the midst of all of it.
But this had been his choice. He didn’t have to be irritated. At any point during his stay in Sodom, he could have fled to the mountain. He could have conceded, “I chose this place because I was trying to find a good situation for me and my family. This place had the amenities and possibilities for the worldly success that I desired. But my life has become a life of wearying vexation. The people here are given over to sensuality, and being in the midst of it everyday is distressing me and poisoning the minds of my wife and children. C’mon y’all; let’s go.”
But Lot loved the world (1 John 2:15), and city life had plunged him into it. Even while the Lord was rescuing him and the angels were assisting him in escaping Sodom, he hesitated to leave worldly life completely. He did NOT want to go to the mountain; it would cut him off from the perks of this world. No, the city was what he had grown accustomed to. Sadly, he, and often we, will endure destructive vexations even when we know there is a better life. So he requested that the angel allow him to flee to a smaller city, but yet still another city, Zoar (Genesis 19:17-22), rather than flee to the mountain.
It seems like such a formidable task for us to climb the hill of God, especially after we’ve had a season of choosing lesser things, worldly things. But this is where we will find the Lord. This is where we can meet with Him. It is there on the seemingly tentative ground of the mountain where we regain our footing. These are the heavenly places with Christ mentioned in Ephesians 2:4-6. This is the new address of those that have given all to follow Jesus. Yes, they must venture out to deal with the purposes God has given them in this world, but the place where they abide is in heavenly places.
Abraham, in contrast to Lot, was living in the seemingly more demanding environment of the mountain, where he too had challenges. But his challenges were to stay close to God, to depend on Him for everything, for in this unwelcoming setting, basic needs were not immediately at hand. And I suspect that there was no way to get cell phone reception or internet access there on the mountain. And no video streaming subscriptions were available either. We find there only Abraham, his people, his flocks, and his God.
If we remain on the mountain rather than seeking ease in some valley full of ungodly men, we 1.) save ourselves from much vexation because the news of the city is not always before our eyes, and 2.) can be unencumbered in our minds and can seek the Lord without distraction. Abraham found that the Lord supplied all the news he needed to hear. Someone came and told him when Lot was taken captive (Genesis 14:11-16), and the Lord Himself (Hallelujah!) came to him along with angels (Wow!) to let him know what He was about to do to Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18). He knew before Lot knew, even though he was living detached from the latest info and goings-on down in Sodom and the rest of the plain. The Lord even let him have input into what He was about to do. This is amazing! And Lot, supposedly “in the know,” knew nothing of the destruction of Sodom until the two angels came to rescue him.
Do you desire what I desire? To stay separated from the inundation of media and from the foreign voices around me so that I can dwell in the Lord‘s holy hill and meet with Him and depend on Him? In doing so, I will not have to labor under the continuing vexation of observing the vileness of the wicked.
Can we let go of the information clearinghouse? of the trends in fashion, in worship music, in preaching personalities? of the lure of the marketplace? Can we live without satisfying our curiosities about a million useless things? Can we live without jumping into the fray of media controversies? Can we let go of the local and national news cycles so that we have minds that are ready to seek the Lord? Will we “be clearheaded and self-controlled so that you can pray” (1 Peter 4:7, NIV)?
Or will we continue swirling around in the ideas and theories and arguments that ungodly men hurl at each other? Will we continue to offer our time, our energy, our vigor, and our potential to something other than our worthy Lord? Will we remain forever divided in heart between Heaven and earth?
The Lord invites us to the mountain to live there, to be truly satisfied in His Presence, and to know His heart and His glory. Will we come and dwell there?
