Looking Back

“Remember Lot’s wife.” — Luke 17:32

Those three words from Jesus have always fascinated me.

Out of all the people and stories He could have referenced, Jesus pointed His listeners back to a woman whose name we don’t even know.

Most people focus on what she did.

She looked back.

But I wonder if the deeper issue wasn’t where her eyes were focused.

Perhaps it was where her heart remained.

Genesis tells us that God was delivering Lot and his family from Sodom before judgment fell upon the city. The angels urged them to flee and gave a simple instruction:

“Escape for your life. Do not look behind you.”

Yet somewhere along the journey, Lot’s wife turned and looked back.

Why?

Scripture doesn’t tell us.

Perhaps she missed her home.

Perhaps she missed friends and memories.

Perhaps she simply feared the uncertainty of what lay ahead.

Whatever the reason, her heart was still connected to something God had called her to leave behind.

The older I get, the more I realize that many of us are not trapped by sinful places.

We’re trapped by familiar ones.

We become comfortable in seasons that were once exactly where God wanted us to be… but are no longer where He is leading us. Hu

Sometimes it’s a ministry.
Sometimes it’s a job.
Sometimes it’s a group of friends.
Sometimes it’s a dream we have carried for decades.

We know God is leading us forward, but part of us keeps looking over our shoulder.

Not because the past was evil.

But because it was known.

The future is not.

I remember nearly thirty years ago when I stepped away from teaching the youth class in McAlester.

The hardest part wasn’t laying down the responsibility.

The hardest part was not looking back.

That season had shaped me.

I loved those students.
I loved the ministry.
I loved what God had done there.

But eventually I had to learn that following God sometimes means leaving a season you loved in order to embrace one you cannot yet see.

Abraham left Ur.
Moses left Midian.
David left the pasture.
The disciples left their nets, tax booth, and fig tree.

None of them were given a complete roadmap.

They were simply asked to trust God enough to take the next step. And often, the next step didn’t make sense until years later.

Perhaps that’s why this story still speaks so powerfully today.

Many of us are asking God for clarity about the future while secretly wishing He would restore the past.

We want the old ministry.
The old relationships.
The old opportunities.
The old version of ourselves.

But what if God is not trying to recreate what was?

What if He is trying to create something new?

What if looking back isn’t always longing for our past life?

What if sometimes it’s refusing to believe God can do something different in the future?

That question has challenged me deeply.

Because every season of life eventually ends.

Children grow up.
Careers change.
Ministries evolve.
Doors close.
Dreams shift.

The question isn’t whether seasons will change.

The question is whether we will trust God when they do.

Lot’s wife teaches us that there is danger in living with our feet pointed toward God’s future while our hearts remain anchored in yesterday.

The past can be honored.
The lessons can be remembered.
The memories can be cherished.

But they cannot become our destination.

God never calls us backward.

He always calls us forward.

Final Word:

Maybe the question isn’t:

“What am I looking back at?”

Maybe the better question is:

“Do I trust God enough to believe that what lies ahead may be different from the past… and still be exactly where He wants me to be?”

After all, it’s hard to move forward while you’re looking back.