I’ve always wondered about Lot’s wife; what little we know of her seems such an odd story.
If it’s been awhile since you read it, here’s a quick-read version of Genesis 19: God decides to rain destruction — “brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven” — on Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sins greatly offend him. But God allows Lot to escape with his wife and two daughters before the destruction begins. In fact, God sends angels to make sure they leave, and despite Lot’s initial reluctance to go, the angels insist that he leave, and leave quickly.
So Lot, his wife, and their two daughters make their escape. But as they flee, Lot’s wife looks back, and as she looks back, she becomes a pillar of salt.
Huh? What’s that all about?
Scripture doesn’t give extensive explanation, just a very brief description of what happened. That brief description is enough to terrify anyone, though, so I can only imagine what it must have been to experience it.
The angels who came to be sure Lot and his family left warned Lot and his family not to look back, but the temptation to do just that proved too great for Lot’s wife.
So why did Lot’s wife look back? Was she trying to make sense of what she was hearing or smelling or feeling as brimstone and fire fell on Sodom and Gomorrah? Or was she merely reluctant and sad to leave that familiar place she had known as home?
Looking back resulted in her own personal disaster.
When God tells us it is time to leave, we need to leave and not look back. That’s easier said than done, as anyone who has tried to do it knows, but the alternatives are not attractive.
If Lot and his family had stayed in Sodom and Gomorrah, they would certainly have been caught up in the destruction.
That’s my take-away from this Scripture lesson. There have been times and places God has asked me to leave, and I’m learning not to look back.
I’m learning to trust God to deal with and care for those situations, places, and people, and I’m learning to look forward, not back. I’m learning to pay more attention to where God wants me to go than to where I’ve been. I’m learning to listen and obey rather than keep trying to do what God wants me to be done with.
Lot’s wife couldn’t do anything about what was happening in Sodom and Gomorrah, but if she’d looked forward instead of back — if she’d trusted God instead — she certainly would have gotten farther.