Genesis 13 - Good meaning bad

For me, using drugs wasn't the real problem. I mean the actual taking of the drug and the moments or hours that came after that was not a miserable experience. If it was, if it was devoid of pleasure and completely miserable, no one would ever take them in the first place. No, miserable always waited around the corner. It was never far away. It was always there lurking, but for at least a brief time, the drugs pretended to work. I was numb. I was not sad. I thought I was good.

But much like Lot in Genesis 13, I thought temporary green pastures meant permanent prosperity. Lot didn't plan on ending up in a city that God would destroy. I'm not sure anyone really makes that decision. But that is where he landed. I know this is kind of a spoiler, but things don't work out well for the city of Sodom. So how did Lot end up there?

From first glance, the land he entered is described as looking like "the garden of the Lord." Wow, that's just about the most extreme compliment you can give in the Bible. On the Biblical scale of awesome, the garden is near the top of the list. So I imagine that when Lot saw that, it was an easy decision to head that way.

And everything looked great. He was on his way. He parted company with Abram. He was moving up in the world like the Jeffersons. But, less than 40 words later, he's camping near Sodom. And the men of Sodom are described as being wicked and sinning greatly against the Lord. (By the way, let's talk about that word "against" later. We sometimes think we can be the sinning version of Switzerland, hurting no one.)

The simple truth is that Lot chased green pastures and found Sodom. I chased getting high and found the bottom. You're working a ton of hours and will find that every promotion in the world won't fill that space that needs filling. You're shopping for another pair of shoes without taking the last pair out of the box.

We all have our own pastures. We all find our own Sodoms. Today, as you enter the weekend, my hope is that you'll remember that sometimes, even the places that look like the garden of the Lord, turn out to be the city of Sodom.