Friday, September 13, 2013

I must believe in His goodness, and that what He's saved me for is so much greater than what He's saved me from. - She Reads Truth: Women in the Bible, Part 1

Lot's wife is a woman who, again, I have heard of several times and have heard the warnings of, but may never have really considered the ramifications of the situation.  Lot and his wife were living in the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah with their two daughters.  The Lord had sent some angels to visit Abraham and tell him that He was going to destroy the two cities.  Abraham bargained with God to the point where if the angels found five righteous people in the two cities, they would not be destroyed.  The account never actually lets us know whether Lot and his family were considered righteous, but, in any case, four people is not five and so the city was to be destroyed.

The angels warned Lot and his family to leave the city and when Lot hesitated, they made sure that they got out and then told them not to look back.  Two commands from the Lord of Hosts through His messengers.  DON'T LOOK BACK! and DON'T STOP ANYWHERE IN THE PLAIN!  Lot and his family began to head for the small town of Zoar because the angels had said they could.  All they had to do was get to the city and not look behind them.

How hard is it, when you've become attached to a place, to leave and not look back at it?  When you're driving away, you have that desire to see it one last time.  If you can look back at it one last time, you'll be ok.  Well, God had commanded that they not look back but Lot's wife was unable to place her faith so fully in God and she looked back.  We don't know why she chose to do so, just that she did.  Instantly, she became a pillar of salt, ceasing to be a person.  When we question God's ability to carry us through a situation because we're much more comfortable with what we know than what we don't know, we doubt God.  Whether that was exactly how Lot's wife felt, I can't say, but when God gives us a clear command, it is our place to do as He says, when He says.

"Remember Lot's wife." Luke 17:32 (NIV)

-Meg

Today we look at Lot's wife. The first passage/verse from scripture we were asked to read today was Luke 17:32 "32Remember what happened to Lot’s wife!" (NLT). If you aren't aware of the story behind this statement you may be a little confused because you wonder, why would we be told to remember? right. Well I have to admit I don't even know what the story is. Now as I start to read Genesis 19, I realize I do know the story, and I know what we are supposed to remember. "26But Lot’s wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt." Genesis 19:26 (NLT), you see Lot's wife didn't follow a simple set of instructions, she was told not to look back, and in the end she suffered the punishment. 

At the end of the devotional today we read this : "I must believe in His goodness, and that what He's saved me for is so much greater than what He's saved me from." -She Reads Truth: Women in the Bible, Part 1. Let's not look back but look forward.

-Tiff