When my boys were little, I loved every single minute of being their mom. I celebrated each major milestone and the marvelous mundane beauty of daily life with them in our sunshine-sweet home.
But my boys grew up. Then I lost that memory-drenched home in a furious fire. In mourning, I was tempted to curl up in the ashes of all I had lost. But God whispered, “Consider Lot’s wife.”
When God determined to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, He also saved Lot for the sake of his faithful uncle Abraham. God was merciful to Lot and his family. Lot’s wife, however, looked back as the embers flew while fleeing the doomed city.
At times I’ve had a righteous tendency to criticize her for that bit of disobedience. After all, God told them not to look back. But in context, that woman was suddenly pulled away from her home. Marching behind her husband with two daughters, she left behind married daughters and possibly grandchildren. Amid a corrupt and vile society, she had raised a family and lived a life she did not want to leave. It was all she had known. She did not understand there was something better ahead.
Lot’s wife was longing. She was worrying—preoccupied with what she was losing but not seeing what God was giving her: protection and a future. She focused on the wrong direction. God had a good plan for her, but she looked back.
In His great mercy, the Lord allowed me to see His beautiful provision even in the fire that destroyed my home. He has taught me to trust Him with everything, even when it looks as if I have nothing at all. He taught me where to look. We are not traveling toward the past. Standing in the ashes with my memories, He gave me a future.
Consider your focus. Don’t long for something that is gone. Lean toward what is to come. It is not over yet. God’s plans are good. Keep marching toward home.
Leslie Hesselbein is a writer.