A FAITH-FILLED, PROPHETIC WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT!
April 18, 2024
BY CRYSTAL G.H. LOWERY
My oldest child, my daughter, recently got her learner’s permit. She was so excited and actually made a calendar to count down the days until she could get it. For her 16th birthday, I printed a copy of the driver’s manual and hole punched it and put it in a nice binder. It’s a bit lengthy – slightly over 125 pages. She devoured the book and studied it nonstop during her spring break. There were quizzes through the state DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) website that had actual questions that would be on her written test. Every day, she took quizzes and in that week alone, took about 25-30 quizzes. She was so happy and I was so proud that she took her written exam and passed the first time.
One of the things that she learned (and we all know) is that when we are driving, we need to look where we are going, not where we have left. We will get into serious accidents if we aren’t looking ahead. We need to, first of all, focus on the destination, and secondly, pay attention to anything that could put us in danger of getting there.
Usually, with driving a vehicle, looking back when you shouldn’t be looking back happens when you aren’t paying attention or being negligent. However, there is a different situation altogether when you look back on purpose.
The house I used to live in had a lot of memories. We lived there for about 15 years. Alot happened there, including the birth of 4 children, 2 of whom were born in a birth pool in the house. We had pets buried in the yard. It is where we faced many challenges and the place I also have associations with of finding out news I never wanted to hear. When we moved from that house, I heard the Holy Spirit instruct me to not look back. Even with the good that happened there, some of the challenges were very intense. In Jeremiah, the WORD tells us that God wants to give us a hope and a future. How can we move toward hope and a future if we are looking back?
I recently read somewhere that the past isn’t meant to be a parking space. Sometimes, it isn’t just the physical eyes that need to look forward, it’s our spirit and soul as well. If you have ever heard someone ask, “Are you present?” or “Hello, are you with us?” They mean, “Are you thinking in your head and living a different present reality than what is actually going on right now?” I have often been so caught up in my thoughts that I have lived in my head and have missed what is going on around me.
I’m not trying to suggest that we don’t honor the places God has brought us from, the victories we have to celebrate for overcoming challenges, the learning we have and must do from the past, and the people we want to honor. However, that is a totally different thing than what I am saying here. We can’t dwell in the past or look backward. It’s a heart issue.
There is a very well know story in the Bible which is found in Genesis 19. Abraham’s nephew Lot had been living in Sodom and Gomorrah. This is one of the most, if not the most, wicked places in that day. Through a series of events, there are angels that go into the city to help Lot and his family escape the city and the complete destruction that is coming.
As they were being escorted out of the city, the angels instructed Lot, his wife, and his family to NOT look back or they would be destroyed. This may partly have been because there wasn’t time to waste looking back. (There never is.) They needed to get to safety in a hurry. But, even more importantly, there was a spiritual component regarding how their heart was postured. Like a sunflower that follows the path of the sun each day and leans and bends toward the sun, was their heart leaning toward the corruption and sin of Sodom and Gomorrah or was it facing and looking toward righteousness and the provision of safety?
As Lot’s family was hastily on route to a safe haven, Lot’s wife showed the true posture of her heart. In Genesis 19:26 TPT, we find out exactly what happened. It says, “But, Lot’s wife turned and gazed longingly on the city and turned into a pillar of salt.”
Lot’s wife physically turned her position because she was spiritually turned in her heart. She went from looking forward to a complete 180 degree turn backward. Not only did she disobey the instruction of the angels, but she was already told of the consequence of that disobedience.
Further, not only did she turn and look back, she did so LONGINGLY. She gazed with longing in her heart toward the place that was so corrupt and wicked – a complete 180 degree from gazing longingly forward to righteousness and a place God had prepared for their future.
Lot’s wife received the consequence of her actions and became a pillar of salt. It is interesting that she became salt. Salt preserves. This can be a wonderful thing if you are trying to preserve food, for example. However, here it is not so wonderful. I believe that in the day we live in, the Holy Spirit is emphasizing to us the lesson from Lot’s wife that has been preserved for us. She wasn’t preserved as a mound of salt, but as a pillar of salt. A pillar stands high and is for supporting something, often a structure. The lesson for us is that in our walk with the Lord during this life on earth, there are pillars or supporting elements of what God has designed and instructed for our good. Just as the Israelites built altars out of piled high stones to commemorate something monumental, this salt pillar also commemorates something monumental. We are to listen. We are to listen carefully. We are to obey instruction from the Lord. We are to look forward. We are not to look back longingly. We are to renew our minds so that our heart posture is facing righteousness instead of evil. As my Mammaw said when I was growing up, “We live in this world, but we are not be of this world!”
It’s crucial that we examine our hearts and where we are truly facing. In proverbs, it says that as we think in our hearts, so shall we become. What are we putting into ourselves. What are we thinking on? Where are we facing? That is where we will end up. God does have great plans for each of us – a hope and a future. However, we have a part to play. Lot’s wife could have ended up in safety like the rest of her family, but she chose to look back instead of looking forward.
Look forward today. Make sure your gaze is toward righteousness, your heart fully facing and following Jesus. Don’t look back and become a pillar of salt. Look forward and become a pillar of righteousness. Based On Faith.
Crystal G.H. Lowery, Esq is a Christian Estate Planning Attorney and is the owner and founding attorney of Law Office Of Crystal G.H. Lowery, LLC. She is also an ordained minister who has a passion for sharing Jesus. Based on Faith is an organization whose vision is to become an international resource that increases biblical knowledge of faith within the Body of Christ through comprehensive teaching, discussion of law, and the prophetic.
Copyright 2024 ©, Crystal G.H. Lowery and Based on Faith. All Rights Reserved.