So About Lot’s Wife…

¹⁴ So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

¹⁵ With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.”

¹⁶ When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. ¹⁷ As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”

¹⁸ But Lot said to them, “No, my lords, please! ¹⁹ Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. ²⁰ Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”

²¹ He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. ²² But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar. )

²³ By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. ²⁴ Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. ²⁵ Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. ²⁶ But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

- Genesis 19: 14-26 (NIV) Emphasis mine

I don’t know about you, but when I read this story, I always get annoyed with Lot’s wife. I catch myself yelling at her, “why the heck did you look back??? The ANGELS said not to. Doesn’t that mean anything to you? And what about your husband? Don’t you trust him to lead you to safety? Your city is being destroyed and you’re being saved – there is nothing to look back at. Just move forward like you were told.” Needless to say, Lot’s wife is not a biblical character that I have looked up to or related to. If anything, she made me feel better about myself. Because in my head, I would never do THAT!

But yesterday I had a bit of a wake-up call. I was laying in bed crying – realizing that in life, so many times I’m like Lot’s wife. Granted the situations are different…but how many times do I wish for something of my past? How many times do I get stuck thinking “if only things didn’t change…” or “it was better when..”. And all this time I’m not even realizing that what I’m looking back at – doesn’t exist anymore. Whether it be a great memory or a hurtful one, they are in fact just memories now. The Lord has commanded me to move on. My husband has encouraged me to listen to God’s word NOW, not from the past. To not hope for things to go back to how they were, but to look forward to what He has ahead.

But when it comes down to it, I’m not sure I should be judging Lot’s wife too hard. I can’t say I wouldn’t be a pillar of salt myself if I was walking in her shoes.