She Became a Pillar of Salt, Don’t Follow Her Example

“But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.”
Genesis 19:26(ESV)

“Life is good. I have no complaints.” A dear friend said this to me not too long ago, but a couple of weeks after I spoke to him, he phoned again. With a very dejected tone in his voice, he expressed that he was feeling very down about his life. He felt that things were hard and said if he had a chance to do it all over again, he would do many things differently. Often during our conversations, he has talked about his “boys” and how they have it so rough because of their unhappy marriages. They complain to him all the time about their wives. He has always felt his life was pretty easy in comparison, because he is unencumbered with the responsibilities that his married friends have, but something has happened to change his perspective. His life took a turn that surprised him, and he sees things differently. He’s regretful, especially about his choice to end his last relationship, because now, he’s facing the most challenging time of his life alone.

All of us have been at a place in our lives where we regretted some of our decisions. It’s not a good feeling. We remember at one time feeling carefree, and we didn’t think about the possibility that circumstances might change. We didn’t heed God’s instruction to remain prayerful and close to Him so we can always hear His voice and follow His guidance. Jesus Christ said in John 16:13(NLT) that the Holy Spirit that indwells us “will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.” We desperately need the Spirits guidance, and we need to have a hearty prayer life so that we learn to recognize the Spirit’s promptings, because they guide and keep us on a safe path.

Many of us make ourselves comfortable with situations that do not require us to grow, evolve, and change for the better. Some of us remain in relationships that continually hinder and hold us back. We’ve discarded good relationships and held too tightly to bad ones. Like my friend, we always think we have more time to get ourselves straightened out, and we prolong the spiritual maturity and growth that will equip us for challenging times. We become stuck, because we refuse to accept that we should be spiritually growing and moving forward.

Some of us become stuck because we’re continually looking back to past mistakes, or because we want to recapture and relive the past. No matter the pull, looking back too long will cause us to lose stamina and momentum on this race called life. If we refuse to move forward, things can become catastrophic. The Old Testament record of Lot’s wife gives us a window to see how this can play out.

Abraham is called the Father of our Believing, because he was fully persuaded that what God says He is willing and able to perform. Hebrews 11:8(NLT) says, “It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going.” When God told Abraham to leave his homeland, he obeyed, and his nephew, Lot, went with him. Both uncle and nephew had lots of family, servants, and livestock, so much so that the servants of the two began quarreling. Abraham finally said to Lot in Genesis 13:8-11(NLT), “8 Let’s not allow this conflict to come between us or our herdsmen. After all, we are close relatives! 9 The whole countryside is open to you. Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate. If you want the land to the left, then I’ll take the land on the right. If you prefer the land on the right, then I’ll go to the left.” Lot chose Sodom because it looked lush and beautiful, but it was a treacherous place and doomed to be destroyed.

Before it’s destruction, the angel of the Lord gave Lot and his family instruction and said in Genesis 19:17(NLT), “Run for your lives! And don’t look back or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away!” As the sun was rising one morning, the Lord rained down fire and burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah. Genesis 19:25-26(NLT) says, “25 He utterly destroyed them, along with the other cities and villages of the plain, wiping out all the people and every bit of vegetation. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt.”

This nameless woman, Lots wife, refused to look ahead to what God had in store for them. Clinging to what was behind, she turned and her choice to disobey and to kick faith to the curb was sealed. Many of us are doing what Lot’s wife chose to do. We’re refusing to accept the truth that we must grow continually in Christ, and this is a process that will never stop.

My friend was once involved with a woman that very much wanted to be his wife. In my estimation, she was the best thing that ever happen to him. Everyone thought so, and he knew she was a good woman, but when things became serious, he brushed her off. He wanted to be free and saw the responsibility of taking care of a woman’s heart as burdensome and too much for him. He was clinging to this rather than understanding that we’re here on this earth to love others to our greatest capacity. He failed to understand that responsibility and accountability are benchmarks of spiritual maturity in Christ, and that we can’t steward greater blessings without accepting greater responsibility.

When it comes to relationships, some of us are stuck in the same patterns we had in high-school, and we haven’t matured much emotionally since then. Lot’s wife turning into a pillar of salt reminds us that we must have faith in God and do as Abraham did, which is to move when God says to move. This means that our relationship with Him must be a priority in our lives, so that we learn to recognize His voice and follow His guidance. Don’t become like Lot’s wife and hold too tightly to the wrong thing. Instead, make it a commitment to be flexible to God’s Will as He leads you to greater responsibility and greater blessings. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

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