The other day I was searching for bible verses in regards to disbelief...during the storms of life when everything is flipped upside down it can be so easy to forget the truth and be bogged down with a heavy spirit of disbelief...too often we allow our emotions and our feelings to counteract the truth of the word of God. We allow what we see to get in the way of what we know.
Sometimes our own disbelief is rooted in our limited expectation of how WE think GOD should handle a situation in our lives. We make assumptions and then cry when we don't get our way or see God do what WE expect him to do. Goodness, I know what that is like...I have been around that mountain and to be honest, when I find myself caught up in my emotions I can still find myself going around that mountain...when we see the exact opposite of what we know and believe, its an opportunity to jump to a new level of faith, but that does not discount the OPPOSITION we will face.
Moving Forward....(literally)...
So...on this quest for scriptures to fight disbelief I came across a website that said this:
"What was Lot's wife's sin? She did not believe. It is that simple. She died for her lack of faith, which was revealed in her direct rebellion against the messengers of God. She looked back. The root cause of her rebellion, of her worldliness, was her unbelief. Due to her unbelief, she was not prepared to leave Sodom and did not really obey the command to leave." (Genesis 19)
Genesis 19:26
"But Lots wife LOOKED BACK as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt"
Genesis 19:26
"But Lots wife LOOKED BACK as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt"
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OK...now take a deep breath because that can seem a little harsh when you first read it. After reading it my mind was blown with this truth:
Some of us aren't prepared to leave our "sodom" aka our past because we are too busy LOOKING back. When the angels of the Lord appeared to Lot and his family telling them to run for their lives and NOT look back, Lots wife LOOKED back and was turned into a pillar of salt...what?! It doesn't even say that she WENT back, she simply just LOOKED, but simply looking was enough. Like Sodom...our past...our old ways of living...our old ways of thinking....all of who we used to be in the world is destroyed and washed away by the blood of Jesus. Some of us are choosing to live in a land that has already been destroyed, sitting on heaps of old broken down walls and picture frames of what used to be.
How can we move forward if we keep looking back? You are going to run in the direction in which you are looking. If you keep looking at the problem, you are going to run into it. If you keep looking back, you will start running back. So, what are you looking at? In Christ, we are called to move forward. God has already called you to pack up and move into the land of the free. Why continue to sit on dust and ashes? Ask God to help you to stop looking back to that past hurt, that past relationship, that past sin that you have already been forgiven for but can't seem to let it go, that past traumatic experience that has your mind going like a carousal making you dizzy. Ask Him to help you PACK UP and leave your Sodom. When we look back, we may not be turned into a pillar of salt like Lot's wife but we sure do open up those wounds and dose ourselves with the salt of discouragement and despair. Sometimes to fully heal, we may need to face our past, deal with it and then...leave it there!
So...stop waiting for an invitation, you already RSVP'd at the foot of the cross! Just because you're late doesn't mean you won't make it in time...we serve the Author of TIME. He's waiting for His children who are looking back to start looking forward to ALL that He has called us to!
And...if you do happen to look back, thank God that you're not where you used to be! This is an area I struggled with for a WHILE...and honestly, sometimes I still do but it does get better and is a daily journey and challenge!
Love,
Beth
