Zoe Hatcher's Blog

Genesis 18:20 "Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know." 22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD. 23 Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing-- to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" 26 The LORD said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake." 27 Then Abraham spoke up again: "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people?" "If I find forty-five there," he said, "I will not destroy it." 29 Once again he spoke to him, "What if only forty are found there?" He said, "For the sake of forty, I will not do it." 30 Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?" He answered, "I will not do it if I find thirty there." 31 Abraham said, "Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?" He said, "For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it." 32 Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?" He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it." 33 When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home."

I always thought Abraham was bold. Begging God to save this awful city just because of his nephew. What audacity! He destroyed it anyway, right? But wait a minute... Doesn't it say that we are to boldly come before the throne?

Heb. 4:16 "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

He did it in humility too... He remembered that he is just dust and ashes to the Lord. That is something I rarely do. Remembering that God doesn't have to listen to our little pea brains, but He does because He loves us. Enough to actually promise us many things. Knowing that we don't keep our promises, but He does.

And God actually listened to him! He heard him, Abraham convinced Him. He did destroy the city, but He couldn't even find 10 righteous people there. But if He would have, He wouldn't have destroyed the Whole city, because of Abraham's request. History as we know it would have been different. God doesn't like to see us arguing with him and questioning him. But because He loves us dearly, we have influence with Him. Can you believe that? Influence with God! I wonder how many things in history, our history, would have been different if we would have had the courage, or taken the time to plead with God.

Think about it. There are many things we need to plead for. A new car? No. How about salvation for the people on our street? Our block? Our city? Our State? Our Nation? Abraham loved Lot's family. They were his family. But he loved the whole city. How do I know? He pleaded for it. He gave God 6 scenarios, and said would you save it if... He loved the drunkards, the adulterers, the homosexuals, he loved them all enough to ask God for their lives 6 times. Do we plead? Do we care? A lot of times I don't. Sadly, not enough to plead. I want to take time this week during prayer and fasting to plead for unloveable people. Join me. There's a vigil on Friday night at 6pm at the church. For the lost who are about to be destroyed and don't know it. God is standing over our town looking, thinking about the destruction to come. Remember judgement is coming, and we don't know when. So who is standing up there with God? Who pulled him aside before he went down like Abraham? Who is saying, "Lord, will you save Bradford if you find 50 righteous people in it?" "Lord, will you spare my street?" Lord, forgive me for not caring enough to pull you aside. Forgive me for being lazy and knowing that I can come before You boldly and intercede for others and not doing it. Please, Lord, help me to care. Help me to not be afraid to plead for other's lives...

Job. 29:4b "God's intimate friendship blessed my house."

Job. 16:19-21 "Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high. 20 My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; 21 on behalf of a man he pleads with God as a man pleads for his friend."

When I think about being God's friend, I think about a time when I was in a huge crowd of people. I knew no one around, no one knew me or even really saw me. But I felt like God reached down and hugged me. Out of all of those people, he saw me. Have you ever felt that way? Noticed. Treasured. Not when you did anything. Not when you put on a show, or looked especially good, said something incredibly clever, or even when you weren't around anyone to fawn over you. Let me tell you, it was life-changing.

To know the truth that you are loved by God, and not in a Sunday School way, "Jesus Loves Me". But to know that you know that you did nothing, and He saw you. There across the room. And loved you. It's even better to find out once you get to know each other that He was always there. And not just as a bystander, but your Creator, He made you. So it's quite the epiphany when you realize that he knows you better than anyone, and can love you that way. Like a friend. The perfect friend.

The picture that Job paints that God's intimate friendship blessed his house is awesome. It's like the sun coming in and making everyone warm. And then in Job's experience, he feels like the sun has left and it's dark and cold. When in reality a dark storm front came in the room to block the sun's warmth. He's freezing cold and all he knows is that the sun left, right?

I wish I could always feel that God-hug in a crowd. When I'm at the grocery store, or home doing dishes, or crying because I feel misunderstood or lonely. The thing I don't realize is that He's hugging me then too, just the enemy's come in and put a big puffy jacket on me and all I can feel is my pain insulated. Not that skin against skin comfort of intimacy with God. So I yell at him (and anyone around) that He's left, and good riddance. I didn't need Him anyway, right? Could you imagine how frustrating it would be for God? Him sitting there holding on to me and me turned away from Him, yelling "where are You?" I picture Him a lot of times just sitting there patiently waiting for me to finish my fit, just like I do with my kids (well, not always so patiently on my part...). And then when I'm spent, sweating in my puffy coat, He says, are you ready to throw that stupid coat off and turn around and talk to me?

Let me just say, I'm growing up in my faith... But that's another blog for another day... ;)

I'll admit. I've been nervous to start. How to start this blogging thing... Even though I've done it before...;) I'll be honest and transparent here. I'll try not to sound self-righteous and pretentious... So here goes... A look into my mind... Woo hoo... :)

Welcome to Zoe Hatcher's Blog!