Missed Her Moment

“Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah— from the Lord out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” - Genesis 19:24-26

We have spent the last few days talking about letting go of those things that are holding you back from the life God intends for you to live. The key to taking off in life is found in our ability to recognize our hindrances and let them go.

That is the real dilemma that confronted Lot’s wife in Genesis 19. Here is a tale of someone who suffered from the inability to separate from the moments and the memories, the people and the places in her past. And this inability ultimately led to her demise.  

She is mentioned in the Bible only by this reference—Lot’s wife. I imagine she did some great things in her life, but her legacy is only captured here by her struggle. We don’t know her name, where she is from, or who her people were.  

What we do know is that she struggled with a bad case of the “I can’t help its.” She was unable to walk away from something that did not add value to her life. The tragic details of her life are captured in the scene during Sodom’s destruction where the text says that the angels of the Lord instructed Lot to take his wife and two daughters and leave the city of Sodom.  

Genesis 19:17 says, “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!” “Then,” the Bible says in verse 24, “the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. Thus, He overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.”  

It is a sad picture of what very likely could have been a loving and wonderful woman. But she missed her moment, she missed a great opportunity at pursuing a fresh start and a new future, all because she could not let it go.  

Don’t make the same mistake she did. Don’t let what’s behind you hold you back. You never know what could hang in the balance of your decision to let go and move on.