Do you remember reading about Lot in the Old Testament? He was Abraham’s nephew who wound up living in Sodom. Most of us know what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. They were the two cities where sin was running rampant and the righteous judgment of the Lord was looming on the horizon. Eventually fire and brimstone rained down on them and all inside died.
Well before that supernatural storm, two angels came to Lot’s door to rescue Lot and his family from the impending doom, but only he, his wife, and their two daughters left. For some reason Lot’s sons-in-law thought it was a joke. Lot, his wife, and their two daughters didn’t really want to go either but did. Literally, the angels had to hold their hands and pull them away from their home in that sin-filled town.
Then the angels gave pretty specific directions to Lot and his family saying, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley, escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away,” (Genesis 19:17).
3 out of the 4 members of this little nuclear family obeyed the angels. One did not. The wife looked back. Instantly, she was turned into a pillar of salt.
The family was emotionally tied to Sodom—it was their home. The command to “not look back,” was a way for them to start breaking from the past. When we look back at our pasts with longing and with a desire to go back to “the way things were” we lose out on the new thing that God is birthing. Sometimes, “the way things were” isn’t very healthy or righteous. We need to run from those things and head for the hills.
The idea of “not looking back” has been a theme this year for me. God has been changing my life so drastically and shaving stuff off that could be looked back on with longing. He has told me over and over to “not look back” but to know that He is all. He will provide for every need I shall have in my life whether physical, emotional, or spiritual.
This year, God had me escaping “the way things were” and providing me with the journey of letting go of the emotions of my past including the sense of security that money provides, and the sense of direction a degree provides. He has given me this year to distance myself from desiring these things emotionally anymore. 2010 has been a year of running to the hills and looking forward at what God has in store for the next chapter of my life.
What has the theme been for you in 2010? Pause and pray about where He is going to take you in 2011. Any scriptures come to mind?
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