Remembering Lot's Wife

Why do we do the things we do as Christians? 

We run around all week busy with our day-to-day lives, hardly giving God a second thought let alone a first thought, worried about this or that, full of fear about this or that thing, scared of what the future might hold, and desperate for things to be good in our lives. We all want the good life, the cozy life, the easy life, and we spend a good amount of our time trying to get it. Has anyone here ever bought a lottery ticket? Me too. We all go through a point in our lives where we long for things to be the way they used to be, for life to be good again. But the thing we often forget is that we were thinking the same exact thing back then as we are now. It’s a bit like fine wine—except it turns out we were drinking grape juice the whole time.

We rarely realize just how good we have it until we are looking back on our past in the context of our current life. The grass is greener on the other side of the fence, as they say.

We are really quite simple creatures, us humans, and our desires are, for the most part, not that complex. In fact, they could well be summed up in that phrase, “A desire for things to be good,” and I'd go one step further and say that it's a desire for things to be good again because we do have that hindsight that really helps us appreciate just how good we have it, but not until we are looking back on a time and situation. This is known as discontentment and it's not how we are supposed to live our life. It's easy to look back and see all the missed opportunities in our lives, but it's rather hard to look at where we are now and see the ones we are missing right now. It's easy to look back with yearning and for us to long for things to be good again the way they were back then, but the reality is that is a false goal. Things will never be like they were back then, and we can't go back in time. Trying to do so will just result in lost time and more missed opportunities in the here and now. 

Really, spending our time looking back divides our loyalties and splits our hearts, if you will. On the one hand, we are supposed to be devoted to God in the here and now with an eye on His Kingdom, but on the other hand those tantalizing pictures of just how good we had it keep calling us back, and so, our loyalty is divided between God and between our fantasy. There's nothing wrong with looking back to learn a lesson, but that's not what I'm talking about. I’m talking about looking back and longing to have it be the way it was back then. That's what can be dangerous and what we should be aware of in our day-to-day life because Satan will use that desire for things to be good again to distract us and steal our energy from following God. It will divide our efforts, in other words; efforts that are supposed to be in a forward direction toward the kingdom of God.

We can expend and waste the same sort of energy by worrying about the future because we are afraid to leave what we know behind us and to walk into the unknown. We realize we have it good where we are at right as it comes time to move on so we fear the change of the unknown and we would rather stay put where we are comfortable than move forward even if there is a good chance that it will be better than where we are at right now. When God calls to go somewhere else, or into a career change, or even into the loss of a loved one, we fear it because it is the unknown. We're comfortable right where we are and we'd really rather not move into the next chapter of our lives, and even if we are kicked out of our current chapter and into the next one, we will still look back longingly, wishing we could be right back in the previous chapter. That's not a good response, but it is a natural response, and as we'll see in a moment, we are warned about it. 

Jesus is actually the one who warns about looking back, and He does so in the gospel of Luke, Luke chapter 17. This is the section where Jesus is giving us a glimpse of conditions at the end of time, and He says something of interest to our topic here today. 

Luke 17:31 (AFV) In that day, let not the one who is on the housetop, and his goods in the house, come down to take them away; and likewise, let not the one who is in the field return to the things behind.

He starts off by warning us on that day, the day of the destruction of our city, to not go back for anything. He says we need to just drop everything and get the heck out of dodge as quickly as our little feet will carry us. Then He goes on to say something a little odd.

Luke 17:32 (AFV) Remember Lot's wife.

Remember Lot's wife. How very interesting! What are we supposed to remember about her exactly? 

Since it's something Jesus told us to do, I think it would be a good idea to go back and look at her story a little bit. Let's turn to the story of Lot which we can find in Genesis chapter 19, and though there is a good deal of backstory in the previous chapter, this is where the story of Lot's wife really starts.

Now, Lot had been uprooted at the same time Abraham had, then he'd chosen to live in Sodom, then chose it again after he and his family were taken captive, and now a couple of angels come to town and tell him he needs to leave because they are going to destroy the city. Lot hesitates because life just got good again. I mean sure, the city is wicked, but is it really that wicked?

Let's pick up the story in verse 15.

Genesis 19:15 (AFV) And when the morning dawned, then the angels hurried Lot, saying, "Rise up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city."

Genesis 19:16 (AFV) But he lingered, so the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hands of his two daughters (the LORD being merciful to him), and they brought him forth and set him outside the city.

Genesis 19:17 (AFV) And it came to pass, when they brought him outside, they said, "Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountain lest you be consumed."

So Lot hesitates and the angels kick him, his two daughters, and his wife out of the city and tell them to run and to not look back otherwise they will be consumed with the city. So they do, they turn and run without looking back, for a while, anyway. They even make it to another city where they are told they'll be safe, and everything seems to be fine! Then the bombing of those two wicked cities begins, and the situation changes suddenly.

Genesis 19:23 (AFV) The sun had risen upon the land, and Lot entered into Zoar.

Genesis 19:24 (AFV) Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire, from the LORD out of heaven.

Genesis 19:25 (AFV) And He overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

Genesis 19:26 (AFV) But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

Lot's wife looks back and she is instantly changed into a pillar of salt. Now, that seems a bit harsh, doesn't it? I mean, they made it to safety, wasn't it alright for them to look and see the destruction of those two wicked cities? I imagine they probably cheered at the destruction of that evil place, right?

Well, Lot's wife had been uprooted three times at this point, had her life turned upside down, and she probably even had friends in that wicked place. She had built a life for herself there and it was something she didn't want to leave behind.

The word for look back is nabat which means: to look with pleasure or desire, and that really tells us something about the state of mind Lot's wife had. She liked it there and in spite of the wickedness, she didn't want to leave. She wanted to save her old life, and so she did in a way. She died along with that wicked city because she couldn't let it go. Now, what does this tell us about why we are told to remember Lot's wife?

Let's turn back to Luke and read verse 33 of chapter 17. 

Luke 17:33 (AFV) Whoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.

Here's the key to the story of Lot's wife and why we are told to remember her. She wanted to save her way of life, the life she had built for herself. She didn't want to leave it behind, and really, she was comfortable there. So, in seeking to save her life, she lost it. Her lack of trust in God and her discontentment with leaving her city of sin led to her death. 

We share in this challenge of being ready to drop our lives at a moment's notice and move on to whatever God has planned for us. How many of us are ready to leave everything, give up the life we have built for ourselves, and move on? How many of us have brought something with us from our old sinful life into our new spiritual life, or we look back at our old life with longing?

I don’t mean that we have to actively prepare to be ready to leave at a moment's notice, having a go bag and our weapons in the car at all times, though that might be wise, I’m talking about being mentally ready to just walk away. Being mentally prepared to leave everything and everyone and head off into the sunset to wherever God leads us without going back for anything. I’m talking about unattachment to things, possessions, and comfort. 

Most of us probably haven’t even given dropping everything and going a second thought, but it’s something to think about. Could you walk away? 

If our focus is fully on God then we will be able to walk away with no problem, but if our focus is on the things of this life and God second then we just might be the one who looks back when it comes time to leave, we just might be the one longing for the good old ways, and the good old city even though it was pretty wicked. We hesitate when it comes time to move on, clinging to the comfort of the familiar. That’s why you still have that drawer full of old junk—you might need it someday.

We don’t want to find ourselves in a position where we are torn between following God or trying to keep the life we’ve built; we don’t want to put ourselves in a position where anything or anyone else is even close to taking the number one spot in our lives.

The important thing we need to keep in mind is making God number one. If losing anything in this life would mean we would feel like we have lost everything, then God is not number one in our lives and until we make Him number one, our progress is going to be very limited. When our focus is on Him, we walk on the stormy seas, when it's not, we sink into them and eventually drown. We can lose our spiritual life simply because we cannot let go of the life we have built for ourselves and like Lot's wife, we look back at it with longing. We want to build back what we once had, or thought we had, and that's the wrong focus.

Ecclesiastes 7:10 (AFV) Do not say, "Why was it that the former days were better than these?" For you do not ask wisely in regard to this.

Fear and worry about the future essentially accomplish the same thing and they are usually because we are clinging to our life, but we don't have to do that because God will take care of us just as He does the Lilies of the field and the birdies of the air.

Matthew 6:31 (AFV) Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'With what shall we be clothed?'

Matthew 6:32 (AFV) For the nations seek after all these things. And your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things.

Matthew 6:33 (AFV) But as for you, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Matthew 6:34 (AFV) Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow; for tomorrow shall take care of the things of itself. Sufficient for the day is the evil of that day."

Just as with Peter, the key to staying above the stormy seas is keeping our eyes on the kingdom. Now, for one final scripture, let's look at 1 John.

1 John 2:15 (AFV) Do not love the world, nor the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him

1 John 2:16 (AFV) Because everything that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pretentious pride of physical life—is not from the Father, but is from the world.

1 John 2:17 (AFV) And the world and its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God abides forever.

This world is temporary, here today, gone tomorrow, and it's really a tiny speck in the grand scheme of things. That doesn't mean we can't enjoy it and take pleasure in the things God has created for us and given to us, but all priorities need to be in their proper order. One day we will be called to leave it all behind without even looking back to long for what we once had just as Israel did after leaving Egypt.

When Israel got into the wilderness and faced their first real challenge the first thing they did was long for things to be easy and simple again. Sure they were slaves, but at least they knew what each day would bring and there was nothing unknown in their life. They didn't have to worry about trusting God at all because they lived the same life every day for generations. 

Exodus 14:11 (AFV) And they said to Moses, "Have you taken us away to die in the wilderness because there were no graves in Egypt? Why have you dealt this way with us to carry us forth out of Egypt?

Exodus 14:12 (AFV) Did we not tell you this word in Egypt, saying, 'Let us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians?' for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness."

Rather than trusting the God who delivered them, they wanted to go back to the good old days when things were predictable. It's really very easy for us to fall into this same mindset in our lives but the Israelites gave us a great example to know what not to do. When we face trials our response shouldn't be longing for the time when we didn't have the trial, our response should be looking for God’s will and following Him even if it looks like a tough road. We can't go back to what we had in the past—we are supposed to be moving forward. It's tough to keep this in mind in the midst of the trial, but when we get right down to it, there's no other way to do it. 

Discontentment is caused by focusing on what we don't have rather than what we do have and what God is doing for us where we are. Kicking and screaming about the good old days won't get us through the waves, only keeping our eyes on Jesus will. When He's not our priority then we start to notice the waves and drowning follows soon after. We wander off into the shrubberies and leave the path toward God behind and lose everything that's actually important. 

We need to keep our eyes on the kingdom of God and seek that first and foremost. It's not always easy to do that and fears, worries, and longings for things to be good again will well up inside us and threaten to divide our hearts, but we can’t give in, and when we do, we need to correct our course and take our focus off the world and put out trust and faith back in God. In the words of Jesus, “Remember Lot's wife.” 

When those worries and longings for things to be good again well up inside, remember Lot's wife and don't look back.