So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarrelling between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives. Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.” (Genesis 13:8, 9)
Not everything is as lovely as it seems.
I can certainly understand where Lot was coming from when given the choice of where to go. Here is a land that looks like God’s garden. It looks the business. It definitely looks a lot more appealing than the alternatives. Yet beyond the surface of the environment was a situation rotten to the core.
Meanwhile although Abram didn’t get what looked like the lovely option, God still reaffirmed His promise to him. Abram’s willingness to yield to the preferences of his nephew for the sake of family harmony, highlighted again why God could trust Abram. Here’s a man who had family affairs at heart and was willing to concede whatever it took to maintain that.
It is indicative of how we should deal with family disputes and larger community disagreements, to do so from a position of seeking that which makes for peace. Even if that means it may appear as though we lose out. Beyond the surface is the recognition that God blesses the peacemakers.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 