I was reflecting on a Bible Story this morning about Lot’s wife. In the Bible, she is first mentioned in Genesis 19, where it says she turned into a pillar of salt because she looked back when the angel of the Lord told her not to. This story is about a family who was warned to flee a city about to be destroyed. The narrative never mentions her name. Jesus instructs us to “remember Lot’s wife” in Luke 17:32, the second time the Bible mentions her. Still, Lot’s wife, against the warning, looked back.

We can equate this to her choosing the things in her past over moving forward into what God had for her. When the angel came to move her family, he gave strict instructions to go forward and leave it all behind. When Jesus tells us to remember Lot’s wife, he describes a scene where He will return, and people must be ready to leave their lives behind. Luke 17:33: “If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it.” This stark warning about the danger of clinging to your life and the past is important.

If we always look into the past instead of moving forward, we may feel anger, hurt, and bitterness about the life we expected to have but don’t. Looking back at the past when God tells us precisely to move on could harden us, just like it did Lot’s wife. We let that betrayal and bitterness continue to grow. It hardens us. 

We don’t know much about Lot’s wife, but from scripture we know Lot didn’t have a wife when he went to Sodom and Gomorrah, so it’s safe to assume that his wife came from that land. Knowing the people of Sodom and Gomorrah would be destroyed; she would be leaving her friends and family behind. According to the Bible, it was a bad place, but Lot’s wife wanted to be there. Perhaps, it was all she knew. 

God was trying to move her into a new place to give her a new promise with her husband Lot and her children, but she could not give up her old life. Her story is a powerful reminder to give up the past that hurts us and move into the life God is leading us to. Remember her story not only as a caution but as a source of strength. By remembering her, we can avoid becoming hardened by the hurts that try to trap us and, instead, follow Jesus and become empowered through His strength. Don’t be destroyed by your past. Leave it behind.

©2024 Marsha L. Brown