By Losing We Win

“And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.” (Ge 13:8 AV)

I have learned something from my youth.  Those who seek peace often wind up in better circumstances than those who never want it.  The herdmen of Lot strove with the herdmen of Abraham over available pasture.  Lot looked upon the planes of Shinar and saw, what he perceived as, an opportunity.  He indeed believed the grass was greener on the other side of the fence.  Just my personal belief, but what I think he really saw was green fields adjacent to major cities.  He saw what he believed to be the best of both worlds.  What he did not realize it this ambition and skewed values cost him his family and his flock.  His family strove for what they perceived as the better choice.  Abraham, who only sought peace within his own family, gave the choice to Lot and ended up in far better circumstances.

Those who continuously strive are often blinded by their own agenda.  They cannot truly see the better of two choices.  The reason is pride and selfishness.  Because sin is at the heart, then that for which they strive is less in value than the alternative.  For those who seek peace, we need to understand this and trust the LORD to even the scales.

In my many years of service to the LORD, I have seen a few churches wherein a certain portion of the membership strive for control over the majority.  What they believe they have in not, in truth, what the end up with.  I have seen ambitious people strive for control, only to cause a church split and lose those who were doing the vast majority of the work and sacrificing to support the church.   Sometimes giving in doesn’t mean we lose.  It means we win.  Abraham certainly did.  The land which he inherited was a mixture of forest and pasture.  Perfect for raising herds.  There were no major metropolitan areas that brought with it deviant behavior.  Lot may have thought he got the better of the deal and that striving made it happen.  But all that did was put him in a worse situation than he was and he lost he protection of the LORD.