HOPE for 2018: Remember Lot's Wife. Then Choose Life.
God saw the wickedness was repulsive and rampant and planned to burn the cities to the ground. Abraham pleaded with God to spare the town (see Genesis 19:26-32) if at least 10 righteous people lived there. So in His mercy, God sent two messengers to lead Lot, his wife, their daughters and sons-in-law out of the town before He totally destroyed it.
Here's the point, we see a glaring example of God's mercy in the midst of Abraham's prayerful pleading for forgiveness and grace for the people of the city. Then we also see God's mercy with Lot's family hesitating to obey when the messengers repeatedly told them, "Do you have anyone else here...anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that He has sent us to destroy it" (Genesis 19:13).
Then again, when Lot pleaded with his sons to "'Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!" But the sons-in-law thought he was joking"' (Gen.19:14).
How many warnings do we get from the Holy Spirit to flee from sin, wrong thinking, and all kinds of temptation? Why do we think we know what's best for us? Why do we trust ourselves instead of a Holy, Sovereign, Loving Father? Why do we long for what we think we should have? Why do we believe God is not enough for us at times?
Since God is merciful to His children and "answers our prayers beyond what we can ask" (Eph. 3:20), He gives us plenty of warnings to not look back and wallow in our sinful past! And just think, it's the sinful past in which we've already asked Him to forgive us!
(Remember the Israelites longing to go back to Egypt and so they could eat more garlic and leeks after God delivered them from 400 years of slavery? Yep.)
It's called unbelief, not believing God's promises are true when He says to us, "...throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of faith" (Hebrews 12:1-3).
And again, Lot was still hesitating leaving Sodom and Gomorrah after warnings to flee, so the messengers "grasped the hands of Lot, his wife, their daughters and sons-in-law and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. As soon as they brought them out, one of them said, 'Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere on the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!" (Genesis 19:16-17)
When Lot and his family had safely fled to the nearby town of Zoar, "Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah--from the LORD out of the heavens. Thus He overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities--and also the vegetation in the land. But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt" (Genesis 19:23-26). NIV commentary says it was the "disobedient hesitation" of Lot's wife that brought God's judgement on her. They were reluctant to leave because of a longing of the life in the wicked city and reluctance of leaving material possessions.
We're not free when we keep looking back with thoughts like this: if only, so many regrets, unbelief, unforgiveness, bitterness, fear, anxiety...right? This is not freedom; it is HOPELESSNESS! This kind of stinkin' thinking is not giving us any HOPE in 2018. Nope.
Jesus makes it simple. We are the ones who make it complicated. Jesus says, "...come, Follow Me." (Luke 18:22). As women who follow Jesus with 'reckless abandon to Jesus' we can be free, Sisters!
Hey, Sister, Here is our HOPE for 2018
"The LORD your God is with you,
the mighty warrior who saves.
He will take delight in you;
in His love He will no long rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing!"
Zephaniah 3:17
What could we possibly want more than a Father like this? 😊
Polly 💗
"Glorify the LORD with me;
let us exalt HIS name together!"
Psalm 34:3
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