Time Trap

Thirst Traps – Part 4

Today we're going to look at two women who made one of the most desperate decisions in Scripture—not because they were wicked, but because they felt out of time.

Pastor, what is a Thirst Trap? We must be careful when we are thirsty because we will often settle for less than God's best.

A "thirst trap" is a photo or video posted on social media, intended to be sexually provocative or attention-grabbing, often in a coy or flattering way. The term combines the idea of "thirst" (sexual desire) and "trap," as the post is designed to lure or attract attention. The motivation can be a way to seek validation, affirm one's desirability, or share a sense of self-love and confidence.

Series Recap

Part 3 - We proved last week that falling for fantasy can have you looking for love in all the wrong places. But the only place to look for true love, the kind that never fails, is in Christ.

Part 2 - We proved that the only One who quenches our deepest thirst is Jesus.

Part 1 - We proved that the most important figures in the Bible were single.

The Pressure of the Clock

Every one of us has lived with the pressure of a clock:

• A biological clock
• A relational clock
• A financial clock
• A ministry clock
• A game clock
• A personal clock

There are moments in life when the clock gets so loud that you can't hear God anymore. You can't hear His promises. You can't hear His peace. You can't hear His voice—all you can hear is tick... tick... tick...

And today we're going to look at two women who made one of the most desperate decisions in Scripture—not because they were wicked, but because they felt out of time.

Lot's daughters didn't sin because they were rebellious. They sinned because they were rushed.

Some of us live our whole lives like this—always hearing our clock louder than our calling.

The Background

Sodom and Gomorrah had been destroyed. Their mother had turned into salt. Their home was gone. Their community was gone. Their father was broken. And they had taken refuge in a cave—isolated, traumatized, and convinced that the world had ended.

They looked around and saw no men, no husbands, no future, no chances for children. And in that cave, the clock began to speak.

Lot's compromise led to his daughters' compromise. God called him to the mountains of Moab, but he settled in a cave in the hills of Zoar.

God's Plan vs. Lot's Plan

Genesis 19:15-22 (ESV)

As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city." But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. And as they brought them out, one said, "Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away." And Lot said to them, "Oh, no, my lords. Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die. Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!" He said to him, "Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there." Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

The Desperate Plan

Genesis 19:30-31 (AMP)

Now Lot went up from Zoar and lived in the mountain together with his two daughters, for he was afraid to stay [any longer] in Zoar; and he lived in a cave with his two daughters. The firstborn said to the younger, "Our father is aging, and there is not a man on earth [available] to be intimate with us in the customary way [so that we may have children]."

Point #1: The Pressure of Time Creates Panic

"There is no man to give us children..."

Lot's daughters were not evil—they were overwhelmed. They believed their future was slipping away. They felt the pressure that many women feel today:

• "I'm getting older."
• "Everyone else is moving forward."
• "My window is closing."
• "Maybe what I want will never happen."

The pressure of time creates panic. And panic creates plans.

This is what they heard—not God, just the clock.

Point #2: Isolation Amplifies the Clock

They were not in a community. They were not around wise counsel. They were not around women of faith. They were in a cave.

The cave amplified their fear. The cave distorted their thinking. The cave magnified their anxiety.

"Isolation doesn't just make things darker—it makes lies louder."

When you isolate yourself, you magnify your emergencies and silence your expectations from God.

Point #3: When You Feel Out of Options, You Create Your Own

Genesis 19:32

Come, let us make our father drunk with wine, and we will lie with him so that we may preserve our family through our father.

They created a plan because they believed they had no options left. Whenever you feel out of options, you start inventing your own.

This is what we do when we think God is late—we start forcing solutions He never designed.

Point #4: The Clock Makes You Compromise

Lot's daughters did something they never would have considered in a season of clarity. But pressure bends values. Pressure distorts boundaries. Pressure pushes you into decisions you will regret.

Pressure doesn't just bend time—pressure bends people. How many people bent their standards, bent their morals, bent their decisions... not because they were evil, but because they were afraid of running out of time?

The Permanent Consequences

Genesis 19:33-38 (AMP)

So they gave their father wine that night, and the firstborn went in and lay with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or when she got up [because he was completely intoxicated]. Then the next day, the firstborn said to the younger, "Behold, I lay with my father last night; let us make him drunk with wine tonight also, and then you go in and lie with him, so that we may preserve our family through our father." So they gave their father wine that night also, and the younger got up and lay with him; and again he did not know when she lay down or when she got up. Thus both the daughters of Lot conceived by their father. The firstborn gave birth to a son and named him Moab (from father); he is the father of the Moabites to this day. The younger also gave birth to a son and named him Ben-ammi (son of my people); he is the father of the Ammonites to this day.

Point #5: Temporary Pressure Produced Permanent Consequences

The children they birthed—Moab and Ammon—became nations that warred against Israel for generations. They made a permanent decision over a temporary fear.

The shortcut you take today becomes the struggle you fight tomorrow.

Point #6: God Is Not Out of Time—You Are Out of Trust

Their mistake was believing that God had no options left. But God is the Creator of options.

• Age doesn't intimidate God.
• Deadlines don't scare God.
• Biological clocks don't pressure God.
• Loneliness doesn't confuse God.

God doesn't run on your clock—time runs on His command.

Your calendar is not God's calendar. You are not running out of time—you are simply running out of trust.

Women Who Showed Patience and Were Rewarded

1. Sarah – Waited 25 Years

Patience: Believed God's promise of a child even through aging and barrenness.
Reward: Gave birth to Isaac, the son of promise.

2. Rebekah – Waited 20 Years for Children

Patience: Remained faithful while barren.
Reward: Gave birth to twins, Jacob and Esau.

3. Rachel – Waited 7+ Years

Patience: Watched her sister bear children while she remained barren.
Reward: Gave birth to Joseph and Benjamin.

4. Hannah – Waited Many Years

Patience: Endured emotional pain, ridicule, and infertility but kept praying.
Reward: Gave birth to Samuel, a prophet who anointed kings.

5. Ruth – Waited Through Loss and Poverty

Patience: Stayed faithful to Naomi, worked hard in the fields, and trusted God's timing.
Reward: Married Boaz and became part of Jesus' lineage.

6. Elizabeth – Waited Her Whole Life

Patience: Served God faithfully in old age though barren for decades.
Reward: Gave birth to John the Baptist.
Waiting Time: A lifetime (likely 40–50 years of marriage).

Point #7: You Are Not on the Clock—You Are in God's Hands

Your life is not counting down; it is being guided. Your time is not slipping away; it is being stewarded. Your story is not expiring; it is unfolding.

Discussion Questions

1. The Loudest Voice: The sermon asks, "When the clock gets so loud you can't hear God anymore—you can't hear His promises, His peace, His voice—all you can hear is tick... tick... tick..." What "clock" is ticking the loudest in your life right now? How is that pressure drowning out God's voice and causing you to make rushed decisions?
2. Isolation and Bad Decisions: Lot's daughters were in a cave—isolated from community, wise counsel, and women of faith. The sermon states, "Isolation doesn't just make things darker—it makes lies louder." What isolation have you chosen (physical, emotional, or spiritual) that has amplified your fears and distorted your thinking? Who do you need to reconnect with for perspective and accountability?
3. Creating Your Own Options: When Lot's daughters felt they had no options, they invented their own solution that led to disaster. What "solution" have you been tempted to force because you believe God is taking too long or has forgotten about you? How might that shortcut today become the struggle you fight tomorrow?
4. Pressure Bends People: The message teaches that "pressure doesn't just bend time—pressure bends people." Looking at your current circumstances, what standards, morals, or boundaries have you already started to bend because of time pressure? What line are you dangerously close to crossing that you never would have considered crossing in a season of clarity?
5. Women Who Waited: Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, Ruth, and Elizabeth all waited years (sometimes decades) for God's promises to be fulfilled. Which of these women's stories resonates most with your current season of waiting? What would it look like for you to move from panic-driven planning to patient, faithful trust that God is never out of time or options?