Don’t Look Back
And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. Genesis 19:15
And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. Genesis 19:17
But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. Genesis 19:26
I always wondered what caused Lot’s wife to linger. Why did she look back? What was worth her very life? The home? I can’t imagine how….was it the shopping in the city that she thought she’d miss? Was it friends she was leaving behind? Surely she knew that nothing was worth disobeying the very messengers sent from the I AM of their lives. But look back she did. A lesson learned.
The story of Lot is not one of my favorites….as a matter of fact, I am not fond of Lot, nor his daughters. But I felt pity for the wife. For some reason—she looked back. As I read this account of their lives I was amazed at the way they acted and the off-handed way they seemed to treat the “Word from God”. Do we do that?
Do we shrug off the sermons, Sunday after Sunday thinking—or rather not thinking at all—of the importance of His Word? His very Word—His Gift to us. So undeserving…and instead of looking at the cross and being thankful for mercy….we all too often look back.
At what? What is it out there that we would rather seek the world than seek Christ? I have been in that very place of “looking back”. Right now, what I see when I look back is a woman, who in her younger years could have done more for God. Could have dug in and grasped more and shared more. Could have learned more. Could have sought Him more. But so much time was wasted. I had “my own plans” and ideas to explore when school was finally over for me. Explore them I did! And I failed.
Maybe I didn’t turn into a pillar of salt….but I looked to the world to bring me satisfaction and peace. Instead of looking to the peace speaker I know and love today. As I looked in the wrong direction….I was just minutes away from being turned into a pillar of salt. I remember the very highway….and I know exactly where I was…there was nothing worth “looking back for”. The world can bring no satisfaction to the life starved soul. It only causes more thirst. It feels like you have eaten something that is salty and for the life of you—you can’t seem to quench the thirst you feel.
That thirst is Christ. When we open our lives to Him and drink Him in…our lives are forever changed…and we will never thirst again. Only Jesus—can truly satisfy our hearts and lives. God was merciful to me. As I was “running” from Him in my late teens and my barely 20’s…He was full of mercy. Forgiving me for my sin and the way I had “disregarded His love”. I was not deserving of this mercy…but He extended it to me.
When I finally came to my senses and realized that I was wasting my life looking in the wrong direction, trying to please only me….I realized where Life really was. Found only in Him. I didn’t look back. Only forward. I fully gave all I had to Jesus Christ, holding nothing back —-knowing that there was and would not be another life for me but this life with Christ. I feel even more strongly about that today.
I have no desire for the things of this world. It has nothing to offer me. The Father in heaven has His plan and design for my life….and I am His for the using.
Father, here I am…Yours…use me. Show me. Direct me to Your paths. Your plan is the only plan I want for my life. I ask that You would give me a desire for more of You than I have ever experienced. My heart cries out to You to be filled to overflowing…that as I go through each day…splashes of You fall all around. You are all I desire. Flood my life with Your Presence. Your peace. Your love. In the precious holy name of Your only Son, Jesus~Amen.
Awsome! This reminds me of the times that God has directed me to leave a where am working and go on a faith venture with me, when i had just gotten comfortable. Many times I have looked back at the comfort I was in, the income that came in and compared with the uncertainities ahead, and my strenght fails. But when I take the first step of obedience I find many doors opening for me. God is faithful to establish us if we only stop looking back and wishing and wasting time, thus letting our blessings pass.
Akech
Let me add a great big amen to this, bless you.
I, too have wasted years doing my own thing, wanting God to bless my selfish choices. I thank Him for having mercy on me and my family. My prayer is that He would daily create in me a heart that longs and thirsts after my Him.
Thank you for this devotion. It was a blessing!
Please “enter me”
I, too, had the thrist that nothing earthly could fill in my younger days. Sigh, oh how I longed to feel loved…if I had only known Christ. I am so grateful for His love and grace. I live to further His name and walk His path.
What a lovely devotional, thank you.
Also, please enter me.
Amen!
Enter me today, please!
Looking back is only good when we can look back objectively to learn from our mistakes rather than condemn ourselves for time wasted.
I was also reminded of something else: “Don’t forget in the dark what God has shown you in the light.” When we make tough decisions through prayer and discerning God’s word for us, we must go forward with those decisions and not look back, no matter how tough the going may be before we arrive at our “promised” land.
Thanks for this post today!
I know that Lot’s wife gets much tsking, but whenever I read that passage, I realize how much I could be Lot’s wife. My looking back over my mistakes and sins, my regrets and the weight of being remorseful over them, is much like Lot’s wife looking back at her home. What I don’t remember when I look back is that I’m not just looking, I’m picking them up again and carrying them a little further, and the load always seems heavier and more burdensome than before. There is never any satisfaction in returning my mind to ugly times in my life.
The joy of the Cross is that we don’t have to look back with longing or regret. We get to live our lives free, and if we truly believe that we are forgiven, when we do look back at the Cross, we will realize that the burden we were looking for is already gone, wiped away with nary a speck of sin/guilt/regret to be found.
Enter me please.
I am learning to cast all of my cares on my Heavenly Father and to thirst only after Him. I too have wasted many of my years thirsting after the wrong things…things that don’t produce eternal value. Praise Jesus for mercy! I am now “experiencing” God and am glad to have my thirst quenched on a regular basis.
Please “Enter Me”
Angie,
Why is it we are so curious and want to look back. I am not kidding when I tell you, yesterday the Lord brought Lot’s wife to my mind along with another scripture about curiosity and its sin.
This must be a personal message for me.
Thank you for an amazing post. Love you girl!
I am often overwhelmed at my “not knowing” how bad life really was, yet there is no comparison to now, life with Christ.
How cool that God can really wipe it all away, and when we look back, it is only to know where HE rescued us from. PLEASE ENTER ME!!
This devotion reminds me how we cannot move forward in our relationship with God or with the plans he has for our life if we are looking back.
Please enter me, thank you.
Enter me
Angie, this is such a beautiful, thought-provoking post. thank you for sharing.
Love this post. My pastor says that we should consider our past like a rear view mirror. Check it often to see – and learn from – what’s behind us but never drive staring into it or you’re sure to crash! Applies to getting distracted by the junk of this world too!
Thanks and please “Enter me”.
Val
Thank you for your insight!
Please enter me…..
Kelley
I am speechless. As I read today’s devotion my heart sunk. It was like reading about my life and all of the times I have looked back. God used this devotion to open my eyes to the fact I carelessly looked back today. I did not even realize I did it. When I slowed down and started to read this devotion the Lord said this is you today. I was in a rush today to get things done and put off all devotions until now. How foolish I was to face the day with out God by my side. Thank you for being obedient and sharing this devotion today.
Angela
“please enter me”
P.S. I have to say thank you for offering this scholarship for had it not been for Proverbs31 sending me the email I would have never known how awesome your devotions are and what I have been missing. I am in amazed by God’s awesome presence in my life every day.
Through your post, the Lord spoke to me in a different way. What came to mind was not to look back on my past. It reminded me that all is forgiven. So, all the bad things that the Devil tries to throw in my face, are nothing but lies. They were wiped away; they don’t exist anymore.
Thank you for your daily inspiration!
Anita
Amen Angie! I do know the regret of a life that was not lived for Him. I do know the joy and thankfulness when I turned to Him and he clasped me up, leading me, loving me.
Bless you, dear friend!
Thanks for the thoughts today.
Please enter me.
How many times have I looked back, thinking I might leave something that I might miss only to find that God will replace it with something more special. Thank you for your words today and to remind us to keep going forward and to walk in His obedience.
We just need to trust His path for us.
Please enter me today.
Blessings,
Rachel T
Sometimes looking back can be quite painful. Looking back to being a horrible teenager, perhaps making poor choices, not being thankful for ‘not having a testimony’, and so much more. But it is very hard not to take a peek over our shoulders – still.
Please ‘enter me’!
Grace
Ahhh…
Lingering in the land of what “used to be.” It represents many things to me. Good things and bad. I choose my time more wisely these days. I have learned the lesson of regret. It is a chain that keeps a constant watch upon my life. I linger, instead, on thoughts of what is to come…the newness of life that I am promised in Christ. Sacred thoughts that lead to a deeper walk of trust…that’s what I’m after.
Thanks for the good post.
peace for the journey~elaine
Amen!
(please enter me)
Awesome word, I struggle with this at times, Thanks for the encouragement:) count me in also please.
I think that I was just minutes away from becoming a salt-pillar myself. Thank you for sharing your personal story with us, Angie. I think all our stories are similar. Well, okay, maybe just mine is similar to yours…
Blessings to you and yours…
Amen! Thank you for sharing your heart, I am always blessed.
The most crippling thing in my life is looking back and letting the past govern each day. It turns me into a pillar of salt and brings rot to my thoughts. I am continually defeated with the past but today and in recent days past I am walking out of the “valley of dry bones” and walking with my father whom I love and find rest in.
I needed this to help me stay in today and keep me from returning to yesterday. Thank you for this truth and Thanks be to Jesus for his love and embrace. Laura
Great blog angie! Enter me in contest please.
Oh, I am a ‘looker backer’- like the disciples who went back to fishing after the death of Jesus, I often am tempted to turn back to the old jobs, habits, and friends of days past. I yearn for the chance to just plain do something comfortable, i guess.
this is just a great reminder that I need to only turn my head to the direction of my Daddy’s voice. thanks!
also, PLEASE ENTER ME