Are You Looking Back...Don't!!!
A Cautionary Tale From Lot's Wife...
The story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is well known, even amongst non-Christian circles. But what isn’t talked about often, is the resulting implosion of Lot’s family after God mercifully saves them from destruction, at the behest of Abraham’s pleas to God - mainly due to the choices they made during their flight from the destruction and God’s wrath.
The impact of Lot and his wife’s decision will influence the future of that family and the cultural groups that stem from them (Moabites and Ammonites). It was their decisions not to follow the direction of the angels that would unleash these consequences, and in the case of Lot’s wife - it was fatal.
The story of Lot’s rescue at the hands of the protecting angels can be found in Genesis 19:15-26, which says…
“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.
The angelic messengers had a warning and message from God to Lot and his family. And you would think that that alone would ensure compliance from them - however, Lot lingered. Lot lingered in a cesspool of a town. A town that was so evil and disgusting God wanted to wipe it out of existence…and he chose to linger.
Lot lingered in his home town because he was holding on to all the things that he had built up in his life. All the connections, all the wealth, all the influence. God was asking him to leave all that behind.
Yet he lingered…how often do we linger in situations that God was calling us from? Was it an ungodly relationship? Was it a place of work that was toxic but you were too comfortable in? Was it a church or ministry that you’ve been involved with for years?
Do not linger in filth, it will soak into you and corrupt you. This can be seen with the actions of Lot’s wife and his daughters later on.
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.”
This is a firm instruction by the angels to Job and his family.
A note to the men who read this - be you a father, a husband or a leader - do not be afraid to make unpopular decisions, even if your family members get angry about it. If God has instructed you to do it…do it. Their anger and resentment is between them and God. The strength of your faith rests in your obedience, not locked into what you have built with your own hands.
A note to the ladies reading this - emotionally comfortable places are not always the healthiest places to be. Please do not be like Lot’s wife and look back at what God is calling you out of. True faith occurs in a place of emotional turmoil and uncertainty.
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!”
Sometimes when you read this story you just shake your head and go “Why Lot….just why?”.
Instead of following the angels instructions Lot negotiated with them. Imagine having the pride to argue with the messengers of God who are supernatural beings.
Lot’s impassioned plea to have the circumstances changed to fit his viewpoint and perspective ended up having consequences for his entire family.
Yet, in our lives, how often do we try to change God’s plan to fit what we want or how we wish it to play out? Be careful about what you try to do with God’s plan for your life - whether it makes sense or not, and whether you think you will make it or not.
He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this favour 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 sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven.
Sometimes, because of our actions, thoughts and attitudes we hinder the plan of God for our lives. However, the interesting point is that God’s plan still happens. The work of the angels was only postponed, not denied, nor diminished. This point should be a source of encouragement for all of us - God’s will, will be done.
And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.”
Other than what happens between Lot and his daughters, the turning of Lot’s wife into a pillar of salt is perhaps the saddest part of the whole story.
Lot’s wife would have been wealthy, influential and used to living a good life, she would have felt secure emotionally and physically within her domain - and here she was being asked to leave it all behind. So she looked back…she looked back at the things she already missed.
The problem is that if she had been obedient and just left, God would have restored everything she lost if she had been obedient to the angel’s instructions. And she paid for it with her life.
In our modern lives we may not be turned into pillars of salt for turning to look back on things we miss, or wanted to happen - rather what we often see is the gradual destruction of our minds and our souls as we continue to focus on what we want rather than keeping our eyes on what God wants.
There are a few other scriptures in both the Old and New Testaments that discuss the important points of where we should keep our gaze and focus.
Colossians 3:2,5-6 informs us that we should… “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth…Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.”
Mental health issues are rampant in the world today, part of the reason for that is because too many people (Christians included) are completely focussed on the things of this world. They spend every waking moment striving for the things of this world - things like wealth, influence, reputation, pleasure, leisure, families, health, possessions, houses, vehicles, distractions. And when they don’t get these things in the ways that they want or wished for, their emotional balance is destroyed.
It is interesting that Paul followed up his point about setting our minds on the things of God, rather than the momentary and passing things of this world, with a series of sins that corrupt our minds, bodies and souls.
When we covet what others have, it lessens us. When we think evil about others, it lessens us. When we give in to the lusts of our flesh and eyes, it lessens us. But when we set our minds (which control our actions) on the things of above then it adds to our lives - now, in the future and for our eternity.
In Isaiah 43:18-19 we are told that we should not, “…remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
Way too many people (myself included) hold on to the things of the past (usually the bad and traumatic things we have experienced).
When we hold on to the past, and things that have happened to us then we are actually sinning against God excuse we are not trusting in HIM and what HE wants us to do now and in the future. It also links in with worry, which is also a sin. Worry not in the sense of being disturbed about an event in the moment, or things like worrying about where the money for the next bill is coming from - rather it is excessive worry.
At the heart of worry is fear - fear that God (you know the creator of the universe) cannot and will not act in our lives if we ask HIM to.
Philippians 4:6 reminds that “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.”
Part of the problem with worry is that we keep looking back (or what is currently going on) instead of walking in faith that God will handle it.
Romans 12:2 informs us, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect”.
The current mindset of the world is that we need to give in to what our mind and emotions are dictating to us. It says give in to your fears. There is no longer any self-control or self-discipling.
Paul in speaking to Timothy his protégée said this in encouragement “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7) - not living in fear, and learning to do this takes discipline, it takes choice and it takes courage and faith.
So, having self-discipline leads to having a sound mind. And having a sound mind enables us to conform to Christ instead of the world.
Philippians 3:13 “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead…”
Paul acknowledges that personal growth and faith is a work in progress. yet the one thing that he says you can do because he did it is….not hating onto the past.
Paul was a pharisee and went about persecuting the Christians, even to the point of execution. That would hang heavy on the mind of a person. And the current worldview would be to cancel such a person, or to deny that such change can occur. Today this would be just like a terrorist turning to Christ and becoming a preacher.
Leave the past where it is - you can’t change it, you can’t fix it, you can’t repeat it - just move forward in the life Jesus is leading you into.
By continuously living and focussing on what was, and what happened you are denying God room to heal and restore, and you cannot possibly walk into your future - because it is physically, spiritually and emotionally impossible to move forward when looking and facing backwards.
In Philippians 4:11, we find the Apostle Paul sharing with us that… “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”
Being content in hard and tough circumstances does not come easy to any of us, and here the apostle Paul is agreeing with us. He informs us that even he needed to ‘learn’ to be content even in the harshest of circumstances.
This is coming from a guy who was beaten, tortured and imprisoned for his faith and for spreading the gospel.
There is a current perspective within our modern culture, especially espoused in the media and via social-media that you need to get this that and the other thing to be seen as successful, or useful or important.
This causes people to feel less than who they are because of what they do not have. This then affects a person’s mental health because they are looking at a situation where they think they are lacking and they have to strive to fulfil the obtaining that thing - even to the point of obsession.
The key to physical, spiritual and emotional health and balance in to be thankful and content for what you have.
I pray that if you are struggling to find peace within yourself, that you are continuously looking back, that you are not able to be content in your life right now (no matter the circumstances) - that you cry out to Jesus for help and support and make the decision to lay it at his feet and to stop worrying about it.