Don't Look Back
Don’t Look Back
Hey Folks happy February! I hope by now you’ve found your groove & are off to an awesome start of the new year. Let’s jump right into it because I have a lot to cover.
In last week’s blog; New Year Same You? The Power of Reset, I discussed taking advantage of each day you open your eyes & utilizing that as your opportunity to start over. If you haven’t read that blog I highly recommend you do before reading this one. I’ll be here waiting for you when you get back. J
This blog, like a few of my other blogs stems from one of my sermons (I just don’t know why that keeps happening but hey I’ll take it lol). For this blog I encourage you to grab a pad & pen to take some notes & read Genesis Chapters 12, 13, 14, 18, & 19 if you are unfamiliar with the story of Abraham & Lot (don’t worry I will summarize the key verses for you).
Before we jump into this let me give you the following disclaimer….everything in our past isn’t bad however sometimes we spend so much time reliving our former days we miss out on what God is trying to do next. AND sometimes moving ahead will require us to revisit something’s from our past so we can progress in a healthy way.
Let’s set the backdrop shall we? Genesis 12 begins with God giving instructions to Abraham (then known as Abram) to leave his family & everything that was comfortable to him to journey to a place he had not yet revealed to him. But for his obedience his reward would be great. This sounds like such a harsh & unreasonable instruction to the human mind but remember God never takes something from us without replacing it with something more valuable. So Abraham does as God instructs & leaves his native country taking his wife Sarai (Sarah), his nephew Lot, their possessions, & the people they acquired in Haran (Genesis 12:4-5). Fwd to Chapter 13 Abraham & Lot were extremely wealthy & were no longer able to reside together so they decided to separate. Lot decides to take the land near the Jordan because it was visually appealing. Chapter 14 a war broke out & ultimately Lot is captured & all of his possessions were taken. Abraham hears what happened & creates an army with 318 men born into his household & defeats the king’s army. He is able to rescue Lot, their possessions, & all of the others that had been captured. Fwd Chapter 18 Abraham finds out Sodom & Gomorrah was going to be destroyed. Abraham asked God if there were 50 righteous people would he destroy the city. God said he wouldn’t. But Abraham knew in his heart there weren’t 50 righteous; he then asked what about 45, 40, 30, 20, & 10? Each time the Lord said he would not destroy the city. Finally we make it to Genesis 19…when Abraham & Lot had separated Lot & his family had taken up residence in Sodom. Sodom & Gomorrah was a placed filled with immoral & lascivious behavior. The city was so bad when the angels had come to visit Lot & forewarn him & his family to leave because God was going to destroy the city when the men (both young & old) had attempted to knock down Lot’s door to have sex with the angels (they were in the form of men). Lot had offered his daughters to them instead but they declined. Vs 17 the angels give Lot & his family very specific instructions “So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind younor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.”
The facts:
Lot had been a liability from the very beginning because God never told Abraham to bring Lot along. (How many times have we tried to bring people along with us because we felt like we owed them or were looking our for them but later found out we should have left them where they were) Our decisions & actions don’t just affect us but they affect those connected to us as well. When Lot decided to part from Abraham he made a decision about where he would live based on how fertile the land looked (everything that looks good is not always good for us). I’m sure he never considered what would come along with the territory. While Sodom was no doubt a beautiful place to live with lots of excitement it was a morally corrupt place. His decision to take up residence in such a lascivious place not only affected him but also affected his family & ultimately cost his wife her life. Lot’s daughters had even been affected by the immorality of Sodom. In the later part of chapter 19 his daughters devise a plan to get him drunk & have relations with him. In their minds I’m sure by saying this will continue our linage it made it ok.
Lot & his family had become comfortable living amongst the dysfunction Sodom had to offer. Vs 16 said Lot & his family were lingering & had to be taken by the hand. We ourselves can sometime find it hard to leave what is comfortable to us even though its total chaos & confusion. The chaos & dysfunction becomes what is normal to us & over time we become immune to what’s happening around us.
There is always a fear of leaving what is familiar to us. It doesn’t matter that everything around us is crumbling & falling apart that’s what’s familiar to us so we just learn to adapt. Fear & faith cannot & do not coexist. When God gives a clear instruction we mustobey. Our natural mind wants all the answers from a-z but that’s not how faith works. Some of us right now keep facing the same cycles every few months, years etc because we keep looking back. You can’t move forward by looking backwards. God has been trying to take you to better but because you won’t give up what is comfortable for you, you find yourself stuck in the same place. Because we’re stuck we get mad at everyone around us that seems to be moving forward.
I’m sure Lot & his family were sad at the thought of leaving their friends & possessions behind (because they were extremely wealthy). I’m sure they were questioning and trying to negotiate with God in their minds. The bible tells us very little about Lot’s wife. In fact it never even tells us her name. We may never know why she chose to look back. Perhaps she had the curious mind of a child that wanted to see what was happening. We know if someone tells us don’t look we’re going to look anyway. Perhaps she was paranoid they were being followed, perhaps she was having 2nd thoughts about leaving, perhaps her mind had convinced her she was better off dying in that comfortable place.
In this new year it is imperative we closely follow the voice of God. God wants you to receive all he has for you butit requires you to do your part. In this New Year your safety net will no longer be comfortable & safe for you. Your safety net will no longer be able to sustain you. In this new season your only options are to look ahead by keeping your eyes fixated on him & your ears in tune with his voice or you can look back like Lot’s wife & die in your uncomfortably comfortable place.
This is your last chance to look back to finish unfinished business. We can’t declare new year new me with our same behaviors & bad habits.
In this season it is also imperative you only bring with you who & what God has told you. It is time to sever ties with unequally yoked relationships because they’ve been distracting you from fulfilling God’s plan for your life. Be careful to whom & what you lend your ear to because there are those that are out to sabotage your future. It is imperative you watch the words you speak & to whom they are uttered. They will not be easily identified at 1stthey carry the spirit of Delilah which like a chameleon that transforms into whatever comforts your insecurity.
In this season this for some this is the last opportunity to complete the assignments God has given you. No more procrastination it’s time to live the life God intended for you. At this moment you have the opportunity to be free from everything that you have allowed to stop you. Take advantage of this moment because you may never get this opportunity again. After this moment do not look back unless it is to share your testimony. As of this moment begin to move forward, move towards the things God has commanded you to. Remember if you look back what happened to Lot’s wife. #DontLookBack
