Lot

LOT: WRONG CHOICES
(Genesis Chapters 13&19)
I sit there, looking at my daughters. 
Both just gave birth to babies. 
Boys. 
Fathered by me. 
The babies are just a week old, 
born on the same day. 
I am their grandfather- their mothers 
are my daughters. 
I am also their father…
How did I get to this sorry state? 
How could I, a righteous man, 
become the father of my daughters’ children? 
Wrong Choices.
I remember when I was living 
my uncle, Abraham…
The Lord had blessed my uncle tremendously. 
He was a wealthy man. 
We were both wealthy men, the entire 
world was ours for the taking. 
We prospered and conquered territories. 
Both of us were married, my wife and 
my uncle’s wife got along well, 
which was rare in an extended family 
like ours. 
Rivalry is usually the main 
issue among women in such family settings. 
Sarah, my uncle’s wife had taken 
my wife like a younger sister. 
Sarah had no children,
 but it did not seem to be a problem for her. 
When my wife got pregnant, 
Sarah was there to help her go 
through the challenges of pregnancy; 
and the way she went about it, 
you would never know she had no 
pregnancy experience! 
She was there in the labour ward 
when my wife put to bed both times. 
Such a gracious woman. 
I wonder what she would say if 
she hears my wife died as a result 
of disobedience to Godly instructions. 
Would she feel she had failed to teach 
her God’s ways properly? 
I wonder what my uncle Abraham would 
say if he hears I fathered my 
daughters’ sons? 
Would he feel he failed in teaching 
me the Right Way?
I was a farmer, just like my uncle. 
I had thousands of cattle, sheep, 
goats, chickens and turkeys. 
We cultivated vast acres of land, 
we grew and harvested produce that 
fed nations. 
We exported our produce to the 
five continents. 
I had gone on seminars all over 
the world to deliver papers on 
macro-agriculture. 
I was an authority in that field. 
I understood methods of farming that 
were divinely revealed to my uncle 
and me. 
We dined with presidents, kings and 
emperors. 
We gave countless countries blueprints 
on how to turn their economies around 
through agriculture. 
I had been interviewed numerous times 
on all the major satellite stations- 
CNN, BBC and all. 
Our company, Abraham and Lot 
Unlimited had no rival in the entire world.
Well, no external rivals, that is…
But with time, rivalry reared its ugly 
head amongst our staff. 
It started within the workmen in the 
field, and later spread to the 
management staff. 
Some of them were loyal to me, 
others to my uncle. We tried putting 
a stop to the problem, but the more 
we tried, the bigger it got.
My uncle called me for a meeting. 
“Lot, since my brother, your father 
Haran died and I took you in as a son, 
we have never had any problem. 
When I decided to start this company, 
I did not want to employ you as a staff 
because you are a son to me. 
I made you a partner and gave you 50% 
shares of the company. 
But now, it seems the company has reached 
a point where it can no longer handle 
its own success. 
I think we should split up. 
You divide the assets and take half. 
You decide how you want to share it 
and where we would be based. 
If you go east, I will go west. 
If you go north, I will go south. 
That way, these workers will not 
meet to quarrel over mundane issues.”
Honestly, I wonder why I thought that 
was as a good idea. 
I wonder why I jumped at it. 
Was it because I once thought the 
company would have been better as 
“Lot and Abraham Unlimited”? 
Was it because I imagined I deserved 
more than 50% share? Incidentally, 
the staff who were loyal to me thought so. 
Could I have unconsciously accepted 
their position?
We shared the assets and I made a decision:
 a very wrong decision. 
I moved to Jordan. 
From my experience and scientific research, 
I knew Jordan had very arable land and 
good vegetation for cattle. 
My agriculture business would definitely 
grow there, so I thought. 
I made a decision by sight, not by faith. 
I named my new company 
“Lot and Daughters Incorporated”. 
I was excited I would no longer be 
in my uncle’s shadow.
A few years down the line,
 I relocated into Sodom. 
My Research and Development staff informed 
me Sodom would become the next big thing 
in agriculture. 
How wrong they were! 
We were in Sodom less than six months 
when it happened: a volcano erupted 
and I lost it all. 
Fire rained down and consumed all my assets, 
my company, my farm, my cattle- everything! 
I also lost my wife in the process. 
I barely escaped from there with my daughters.
I remembered Uncle Abraham used to tell me, 
“We work by faith, not by sight”.
 I never really internalized that statement, 
else I would not be in this mess…
“Dad? Are you okay?” 
I am jolted back to reality by my daughter. 
It is the naming ceremony of my sons. 
My grandsons. 
It is so embarrassing, we do not invite anybody. 
I carry the son of my first daughter.
 I name him Moab. 
I return him to his mother, my first daughter. 
I carry the other and name him Benammi.
A naming ceremony should be a day of joy.
 Ours is a day of shame. 
Just because of a Wrong Decision…
 

- Haruna Daniels