But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

- Genesis 19:26

Do you ever struggle with going backward?

Maybe the thing you are longing for or hoping for is in the past, and you can’t go back or change it. But did you know that oftentimes, we cannot receive what God has for us in the future when we are focused on our past?

God is a God of new beginnings and desires that we live for Him in freedom and peace.

But we cannot do that when we continue to live in the past and desire what has already occurred. The Lord has a purpose for our lives and wants to give us hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)

However, if I am honest, I sometimes live in the past. I re-play scenarios and experiences and try to figure out how I could have handled them differently.

Instead of living in forgiveness and freedom, I hold onto things. Or I keep looking backward, desiring that which God has clearly removed from my life.

When I do that, I am not trusting God to restore me to wholeness in Him!

Looking at the Scriptures in Genesis, we see that Lot’s wife looked back on Sodom and Gomorrah with longing in her heart.

Because of that longing and desire to live a worldly life, she was turned into a pillar of salt. She deliberately disobeyed the angel’s warning and looked back at the evil city with a desire for sin.

As believers, we should desire to live in a way that honors God because we know how much He hates sin and yet loves us.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank You for giving me a new life in You, a new purpose, and a new beginning. I love you, Lord. Amen.  

With Love,
Sherry Shepherd