Lot went to live close to Sodom and
Abram was camped at the oak grove belonging to Mamre the Amorite.
Now the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela had been
subject to King Kedorlaomer for twelve years and had to pay
tributes to him. But in the thirteenth year they rebelled. King
Kedorlaomer heard about it and a year later he arrived with his
allies for a full on war. In a rather quick war, he defeated the
five kings that rebelled against him. He and his allies plundered
Sodom and Gomorrah, taking all their wealth with them. And lo and
behold, they also captured Lot and all he owned. Living close to
Sodom wasn't the best choice after all.
Luckily one of Lot's men managed to
escape and came to tell Abram what happened. And what did Abram do?
Did he gloat and say, "Well Lot deserved it; he wanted to take the
best land for himself, so let him feel what it feels like to be
cheated." Or did he say something like this, "Well it must be God's
way of punishing him for living so close to the evil city of Sodom.
It must be God's way of dealing with him." No. Let's see what Abram
did.
"When Abram learned that Lot
had been captured, he called together the men born into his
household, 318 of them in all. He chased after Kedorlaomer's army
until he caught up with them at Dan." Genesis 14:14
What an amazing man. He didn't even
once stop to think about what Lot did to him and to gloat in what
happened to him. No, he immediately reacted to go and help Lot. And
not only that, he risked his life by going to his aid. Abram wasn't
a trained fighter as far as we can gather and here he wants to take
on a king who just defeated five kings and their armies.
Kedorlaomer was a trained fighter, who kept five cities under his
control for twelve years. He was a force to be reckoned with. But
Abram didn't let that deter him. And in one amazing turn of events,
Abram and his household defeated this mighty king and recovered
everything.
"Abram and his allies recovered
everything - the goods that had been taken, Abram's nephew Lot with
his possessions, and all the women and other captives." Genesis
14:16
This was supernatural. But with God
all things are possible. Abram did the right thing and reacted in
helping his nephew without even thinking of the possible
consequences of his actions and God blessed it. God helped him
every step of the way and gave him the courage to stand up for what
was right.
No matter what someone has done to
you, be prepared to help them in their time of need, no matter how
difficult it might be for you. Don't gloat when things go wrong for
them, don't rejoice in their downfall, rather reach out a helping
hand. I know you might not want to do it, but sometimes we need to
let go of our feelings and surrender to the Word of God. Be an ear
to listen, take food to them if they need it, pray for them, do
whatever you see they need. Be like Abram and stand up for what is
right. God will smile from above.
Father it is so difficult for us to
help those that have hurt us. It is easy to help those that have
always been good to us, but difficult to help those that have been
nasty to us. Please help us to put aside our feelings and to reach
out in their time of need. We will only be able to do it with Your
help. Thank you Jesus, Amen