Get Out!
“For we will destroy this place….” So Lot…spoke to his sons-in-law…and said, “Get up, get out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking. …the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.” – Genesis 19:13-15 NKJV.
“Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’” – Acts 7:2-3 NKJV.
Paige Dean, an 11-year-old girl, was with her grandfather and her 7-year-old brother, when she had a very close call with disaster. They were at Benllech, on the Isle of Anglesey, in the UK. The grandfather had parked their car on a slope with the parking brake set, because not too far in front of the vehicle was a cliff with the water 250 feet below. The grandfather and the boy went off to explore while Paige stayed in the car listening to her music. Somehow, Paige knocked the parking brake off, and the car began to roll forward. She tried to steer the car, missing a tent, but hitting some empty ones. Paige says, “I was rolling towards the edge of the cliff, and I was petrified. I thought: ‘I’ve got to get out.’ In the end I decided to jump out and let the car go. I saw the car fall off the cliff. I definitely would have died.”
Sometimes you just have to get out of some situations before it is too late! Lot and his family faced one of those situations in Sodom. The angels had spoken directly to Lot warning him to take his family and leave because God was going to destroy Sodom very soon. Lot tried to warn his daughters saying, “Get up, get out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city!” His sons-in-laws apparently just laughed at him. So, Lot took his wife, his two daughters still at home and fled the wicked place.
There are situations somewhat similar to Lot’s that some are in today. God’s immediate judgment may not be falling upon you, but for your own physical and spiritual well-being, you need to just get out. Here are some for example: if you are actively engaged in illegal or immoral activities such as: trafficking in drugs, using illegal drugs, involved in producing por_nogr_phy in any way, prostitution, stripping, the sex slave trade or other types of human trafficking, car theft, car-jackings, bank robberies, piracy and there are many other things that would fit into this category. If you are involved any of these kinds of activities the time to get out is now! You are testing the patience of God with every minute you continue in that activity. Get out now, flee now, there will be no better time to do it, to get out, then right now!
There are other kinds of situations that may not appear to be quite so desperate, but also require immediate action, if we want to be in the center of God’s will with our lives. Abraham faced one of those situations when God appeared to him in Mesopotamia and told him, “Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.” Abraham was living in a civilized place with many of the comforts of civilization. God, in effect was telling him to go and live in the lawless wilderness in a tent. This was not something that most people would be anxious to do, and yet that is what Abraham did.
Most missionaries and pastors know what it is like to leave a comfortable life and launch out into the unknown. However, it is not just for those that were larger than life characters in the Bible, or missionaries, and pastors. God may be calling you to go from one career to another, or to leave one place, and move to another.
Is God saying to you “Get out?” Then you need to do it. There may be a cliff up ahead that you cannot see, but He can. Get out while you can.
(There are some situations, and places that God will call upon us to leave behind.)