Pillars of Salt

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
This is one of the many cautions Jesus made to His disciples: “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32 NASB). Then He went on to say, “Whoever seeks to keep his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life shall preserve it” (vs. 33). I can only imagine that Lot’s wife, Virginia, had many faults, but she, obviously, had one that caused her significant problems; I call it the “The Looking Back” syndrome (I was kidding about Lot’s wife being Virginia, actually, it was Louise!). As you remember, Louise and Lot had been given clear instructions, not to look back, as they were leaving Sodom (see Genesis 19:17); Lot managed to keep his focus out front, but Louise’s Looking Back Syndrome kicked in, and she turned around to take a look at the past. Whammo, and she became a pillar of salt, the kind that rusts one’s shovel, not the kind that makes one thirsty for Jesus! Well, now that I think about it, I could be wrong about that, as this “pillar of salt” has probably made many thirsty for Him!
Anyway, from what Jesus said to His disciples (“Whoever seeks to keep his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life shall preserve it”), I can only assume that Louise was having a hard time leaving her past, even though everything in it was being burned to the ground, as in eliminated, because God was just a tad angry with the entire mess. Can you imagine anyone wanting to hold on to something that God detests? Anyway, as God said, in trying to hold on to her life (as she knew it), she lost it!
Well, dear friends, I am afraid that there is a pandemic of the “Looking Back Syndrome” among my Christian brothers and sisters, not to mention, the entire populace. Over the years of my being a pastor/counselor, I have encountered many people, who insist on spending more time focused on the past, than I have those, who are willing to put the past behind them and move on to higher ground. For reasons that I won’t take the time to explain here, they have, sadly, grown comfortable in their misery, and are fearful of moving forward, outside their comfort zone.
I have known some incredible people, incredibly talented people, who have lived for years in the misery that is the product of foolish choices and fear, and, sadly, they refuse even to entertain the possibility that there is a better future for them. They have for years lived out of the paradigm of their past, where rejection, insecurity, and fear rule their lives, and consequently, they live far beneath their God-given potential. In other words, as I look over the landscape of life, I see hundreds, yea thousands, of “pillars of salt” that litter its beauty.
I think Paul’s words are very fitting and appropriate: “. . . one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal . . .” (Philippians 3:13-13 NASB).
In other words, stop making excuses for your misery, stop living in your past, and reach forward to what lies ahead—press on toward the goal! Stop blaming others (those in your past) for your own misery and take responsibility for your own life!! We have enough salt pillars!
You have the God of the Universe on your side!