Lauren Appolis
As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, '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!' Genesis 19:17, NIV
Genesis 19 tells the story of God’s merciful deliverance of Lot and his wife from Sodom and Gomorrah – cities steeped in sin and destined for destruction. Before the city fell, they were instructed to flee, and the angel of the Lord gave one clear instruction: once they had left, they were not to look back.
Lot’s wife did. And in looking back, she became a pillar of salt. (Genesis 19:26)
God, in his kindness, had removed them from a place that would have led to their demise. Still, leaving must have been difficult. Sodom was familiar. It was the life she knew. Perhaps she looked back because what was known felt safer than what lay ahead. Perhaps it was not rebellion as much as hesitation – an ache for what once was, and uncertainty about what was to come.
I wonder how often we find ourselves in similar places. God, in his mercy, calls us out of situations that are not aligned with His will – places where we cannot truly flourish. Yet when the future feels unclear, our hearts are tempted to drift backward, drawn to familiarity, even when we know it was never meant to be home.
Lot’s wife never experienced what God still had prepared for her. Her story reminds us how costly it can be to cling to what is behind us when God is gently leading us forward.
Perhaps you, too, have been called out of something – something comfortable, something familiar – and now you feel unsure, exposed, or afraid. But take heart: God does not call us out only to leave us stranded. His plans for you are good, and he desires to prosper you (Jeremiah 29:11).
May we learn to loosen our grip on what we once knew, so that our hands are free to receive what God is offering. He walks with us, steady and faithful, promising never to leave us nor forsake us. (Deuteronomy 31:6)
His plans reach far beyond what we can imagine. (Ephesians 3:20) And if he has asked you to leave something behind, it is only because he sees something better ahead.
Don’t look back. Trust God. What he has prepared for you is good.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to trust you when you lead me forward. When fear or uncertainty rises, steady my heart. Create in me a longing for all that you have prepared – greater than my attachment to what lies behind. Amen.
Lauren Appolis
Nadat hulle vir Lot-hulle buite die stad gebring het, sê een van die mans vir hom: “Vlug vir jou lewe! Moenie omkyk nie! Moenie êrens in die vlakte vertoef nie, vlug berge toe, anders word jy omgebring.” Genesis 19:17, 1983-vertaling
Genesis 19 vertel die verhaal van hoe God deur sy genade Lot en sy vrou uit Sodom en Gomorra bevry het – stede deurdrenk met sonde en bestem om vernietig te word. Voordat die stad sou val, is hulle beveel om te vlug, en die engel van die Here het aan hulle 'n duidelike opdrag gegee: wanneer hulle die stad verlaat, moes hulle nie omkyk nie.
"Lot se vrou het omgekyk en sy het in 'n soutpilaar verander." (Genesis 19:26)
God, in sy goedheid, het hulle verwyder uit 'n plek wat tot hulle ondergang sou lei. En tog, om te vertrek moes moeilik gewees het. Sodom was bekend. Dit was die lewe wat sy geken het. Miskien het sy omgekyk omdat dit wat agter gelê het veiliger gevoel het as dit wat op hulle gewag het. Miskien was dit nie soveel 'n geval van opstand as van huiwering nie – 'n verlange na dit wat was en onsekerheid oor dit wat kom.
Ek wonder hoe dikwels bevind ons ons nie in soortgelyke omstandighede nie. God, in sy genade, roep ons uit omstandighede wat nie volgens sy wil vir ons is nie – plekke waar ons nie kan floreer nie. Tog, wanneer die toekoms onduidelik is, is ons soms in die versoeking om om te kyk, aangetrek tot die bekende, selfs al weet ons dat dit nooit vir ons bedoel was nie.
Lot se vrou het nooit dit wat God vir haar voorberei het, ervaar nie. Haar verhaal laat ons besef hoe erg dit kan wees om vas te klou aan dit wat agter is, wanneer God ons vorentoe lei.
Miskien is jy ook van iets weggeroep – iets gemaklik, iets bekend – en nou voel jy onseker, blootgestel en bang. Skep moed: God roep ons nie weg van iets om ons dan gestrand te laat nie. Sy plan vir jou is goed en Hy begeer voorspoed vir jou. (Jeremia 29:11)
Mag ons leer om dit wat ons eens geken het te laat gaan, sodat ons hande vry kan wees om dit wat God ons bied, te ontvang. Hy gaan saam met ons, bestendig en getrou, en Hy beloof om ons nooit te verlaat of in die steek te laat nie. (Deuteronomium 31:6)
Sy plan is ver bo wat ons kan dink. (Efesiërs 3:20) En wanneer Hy jou vra om iets agter te laat, is dit slegs omdat Hy vorentoe iets beter vir jou bestem het.
Moenie omkyk nie. Vertou Hom. Wat Hy vir jou beplan het, is goed.
Gebed: Hemelse Vader, help my om U te vertrou wanneer U my vorentoe lei. Wanneer ek angs of onsekerheid ervaar, maak my hart stil. Skep in my 'n verlange na alles wat U vir my voorberei het – veel beter as my gehegtheid aan dit wat verby is. Amen