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This New Year… How do you know it is time for Drastic Action?

It might be time for drastic action this New Year.

Think of the story of Lot in Sodom. The angels have already come by his house to warn him (Gen. 19). The angels tell Lot and his family to leave and the next morning Lot, his wife, and daughters stall. They take their time!

I’m amazed by this! I don’t think I would be stalling if angels just showed up telling me that I needed to leave because the Lord was destroying my town, and an evil mob just tried to break down my door to get to guests at my house.

The next morning the angels show up and grab Lot and his family by the hand and drag them out of town (Gen. 19:16). When I read this, I imagined Lot and his family tugging at the hands of the angels and complaining that the angels are squeezing their arms too tightly.

Once outside the city, they tell Lot to head way up into the mountains and off the plain. But, Lot begs the angels to allow him to go to Zoar instead (Gen. 19:19-20). He calls it a little town. As in, it is a little town with just a little of the same evil of Sodom.

The angels agree but tell them to hurry. Lot’s wife turns to a pillar of salt because she looks back. Then Lot leaves Zoar after the destruction of Sodom because it’s not safe. He fears for his life because of the violence there (Gen. 19:30). Therefore, Lot takes his daughters to live in a cave in the hills outside Zoar.

I am amazed at the lackadaisical response Lot has to the effort of the Lord to save his family. It’s like Lot and his family don’t take the warning seriously.

I mean, they’re obedient and were leaving, but they weren’t quick about it. Then when the angels tell them to go to the mountains, Lot argues with them. What is Lot thinking?

But, I think we do this today!

Here’s what I mean…

We all have moments in our memory that we feel like the Lord has rescued us from greater consequences.

  • It could have been a place you were living?
  • Environment?
  • A habit or routine?
  • Something you refused to do that you should do?
  • Addiction (both mental addictions and physical addictions)?
  • A certain mindset?
  • Pride?
  • Anger?

God gives you an escape and you beg for the halfway. Like Lot, we beg for the “little” city.

For Lot, the mountains were a long way off. They were the drastic change and hard. Lot’s response to this direction was that he was going to die if he went to the mountains, and he begged for the little city. And, God let him have it.

And, even though Lot did not die with Sodom, the results of going to Zoar were not good. He lost his wife and his daughters acted wickedly.

Nothing short of a drastic change would have helped Lot and changed his trajectory.

Lot had no influence on Sodom. He couldn’t even convince the men that were betrothed to his daughters to come with them. Even his influence on his wife and daughters is questionable. I wonder if his sense of right and wrong was numbed by the experience of living around the evil in Sodom (2 Peter 2:7-8).

Lot and his family seemed to be taking on the characteristics of Sodom rather than the opposite.

This is how you know when it is time for drastic action.

Moving into this New Year,

There are things that you should cut out of your life or change because you just know they are not the best. We always have big plans and goals at the beginning of a new year—new habits to add and resolutions to commit to.

But, there are other things (habits, routines, relationships, etc.) that have such an influence on us that they are causing us to act like the world that we are supposed to be influencing. In other words, these things cause us to lose our unique-ness. We are no different from the world around us.

Think not just about yourself but also about your children? Do your children have things in their lives that have such an influence on them?

When you see that…It’s time for drastic action.

So, when you see your children acting like the kids you wouldn’t want to have influence on them, it is time for drastic action!

You may need to move. Change co-ops. Throw out the computer. Take away the phone. It’s time for drastic action.

If whatever is going on is changing who your child is, it is time for drastic action. If it is a single occurrence, it may be ok to allow a middle path.

For yourself, when you start to respond and act like everyone else in the office that you want to reach with the Gospel, it is time for drastic action.

When you struggle with anxiety just like everyone else, it is time for drastic action!

If there is an addiction (an addiction of any kind) or your character is being impacted, it is time for drastic action.

Don’t go to a smaller version of the same evil you are trying to get away from. Don’t go to Zoar. Go to the mountains!

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