Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Bad Girls of the Bible: Lot's Wife

" 'Run for your lives!' the angels warned.  'Do not stop anywhere in the valley.  And don't look back!  Escape to the mountains, or you will die.' "  Genesis 19:17

My beautiful house!  We just got it the way we want it: a library for me, a game room with a pool table & video games for the kids, a comfy couch, not to mention our clothes & toys & my books!  Then there's our wedding album, the kid's baby pictures, the blanket I made for my grandmother and the ones I made for my children, my great grandmother's jewelry box, the pearls my husband gave me for our anniversary, the pictures & newspaper clippings of our family going back at least 5 generations - do you know what your great-grandparents looked like as young children?  I do :).  So many memories attached to the things in my home.  How could I ever just leave it all behind?

Oh, how I can relate to Lottie (of the fictional story) and Lot's wife!  Even if all the signs were there and strangers came with a warning, would I be able to leave on such short notice?  Would I be willing and able to flee to a "wilderness" and take nothing with me?!  Just typing the thought breaks my heart.  Sadly, I think I would have been turned into a pillar of salt.  I'm not sure I would have been caught in Mt. St. Helen's eruption, but maybe.  I think I would have loaded up my cars with the most important and precious things and driven away.  Still, I would have wanted to take things with me!  I'm not sure I could walk away and not look back.

Even if I could physically keep my eyes forward, my heart would be mourning the loss of all of the things we worked so hard for and the memories and tangible reminders of days gone by.  I can't help but wonder if that is part of the warning to 'not look back', to not mourn the loss, but praise the saving.  As Jesus said to his disciples,"Yes, it will be 'business as usual' right up to the hour when the Son of Man returns.  On that day a person outside the house must not go into the house to pack.  A person in the field must not return to town.  Remember what happened to Lot's wife!  Whoever clings to this life will lose it, and whoever loses this life will save it."  Luke 17: 30-33.

This is a question I ask my myself quite often.  I look around my home and wonder, "could I leave it all behind?".  I guess it's on my mind more often because of all the natural disasters we hear about and two of my cousins (2 sepearte fires in the last 18 months) recent house fires (thankfully everyone and the pets are fine and even many of their possessions, but the homes need extensive repairs).  There is no doubt that my family would be the highest priority and the joy that everyone is safe would be overwhelming.  We hear it all the time: 'you're safe and that's all that matters'.  That sentiment is the truest thing anyone has ever spoken.  But we still mourn the loss of our homes.

Lottie and Lot's wife, even with the warnings of impending disaster, chose their 'stuff' over their lives.  We tend to think it was an obvious & easy choice, but hind sight is 20/20.  As you read their stories, put yourself in their shoes.  Walk around your home, looking at all the things that remind you of someone long gone & items that bring back sweet memories and ask yourself, 'if someone you didn't know told you to leave it all and go to the shelter, would you pack nothing, mourn nothing'?  Would you be able to drive away from your home without a backward glance?

I find I am not so different from Lot's wife in that regard.  Even in my thankfulness and praise of being safe, my heart would break for the loss of our home.  It is in that moment that I am thankful for God's grace!  Lot's wife did not heed God's warning and paid dearly for it.  As Christians we are saved by Grace, through Jesus Christ.

Jesus says, "Don't store up treasures here on earth, where they can be eaten by moths and get rusty, and where thieves break in and steal.  Store your treasures in heaven, where they will never become moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves.  Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be."  Matthew 6:19-21.

Even as I yearn to be free from loving the 'stuff' of this earth, I am aware that I fall short, so short you could fit all my stuff in between me and God!  I am still trying though, and God's forgiveness is able to reach around all that 'stuff' to touch my heart and help me draw closer to Him.

After reading these two amazing stories in chapter 3, spend some time pondering "What Lessons Can We Learn from Lot's Wife?" and answer the questions in the Study Guide in the back of the book.

Please share your thoughts on Lottie and Lot's Wife; click here to go to the blog.  I'd love to read about your experiences, struggles, and victories.  Did you identify with these women?  Is this something you're working on in your faith journey?  How is it going and what have you done to let go of your 'treasures here on earth' physically and emotionally?

I'll be back later in the week with some more thoughts on Lottie, Lot's Wife and why their stories are important to us.

Your Partner in Ministry,

Shelly
warrior

"Kind words are like honey - sweet to the soul and healthy for the body."  Proverbs 16:24 








No comments: