God Remembered Abraham and Spared Lot [Genesis 19]

 ²⁴Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven,²⁵and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. ²⁶But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

 ²⁷Now Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the LORD; ²⁸and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace. ²⁹Thus it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.

What a story!  If you haven't read the whole chapter you missed some pretty incredible drama.  Most of the details have been omitted from the children's story version.  At what age did you catch the full impact of how wicked the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were? God sent two angels to the city of Sodom to rescue Lot before He destroyed the city.  The men of the town came to Lot's house to sexually attack the men.  The angels protected Lot and his house and then helped them escape. "Then the two men said to Lot, 'Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place;
for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the LORD that the LORD has sent us to destroy it.'" (v. 12-13). But only Lot, his wife (who didn't make it all the way out) and his two daughters were persuaded to leave.  The grip of sin was strong. They had probably lived in the midst of it so long that they didn't see the depravity as that grave.  Lot's wife even looked back with longing and she turned to a pillar of salt.

Thinking about how Abraham had pleaded for Lot, asking the LORD if He would spare the city if 10 righteous men were there, I was  caught by the thought, "when God destroyed the cities of the valley, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived."  God's compassion for Abraham was what spared Lot!  God remembered.  Abraham's concern for Lot was in God's thoughts when "He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived."

We praise You LORD that You remember Your people and are completely aware of the ones we love and have concern for. You are a gracious and compassionate God.  You do hear our pleadings with You about the ones we love. And while You are at work in their lives You remember us.