The first example can be found in the 18th and 19th chapters of the Book of Genesis when God was preparing to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of the particular wickedness of the people who lived there. The Bible says that the sin of those people was exceedingly grave (Genesis 18:20) and the Lord had decided to judge them. Only Abraham’s nephew Lot and his family were found worthy enough to be spared mainly because Lot was related to Abraham (Genesis 19:29) with whom God had established a special covenant. And so Lot was notified by two angels that he should flee Sodom just before it was to be destroyed.

The relevant part of this story is that Lot and his family were warned that as they fled they should not look back upon the destruction that would be brought by the Lord (Genesis 19:17). Unfortunately though, Lot’s wife disobeyed and did look back for which she was instantly turned into a pillar of salt. For the act of looking back she lost her life and became a tragic figure in biblical history whose story should cause us to be thankful that God has not judged us similarly for our own disobedience and sin.

The second example concerns the Israelites when they went into the wilderness after more than 400 years in slavery. Soon after they had departed from Egypt the people began to grumble and complain about the comforts of life they were lacking in the wilderness. First, they complained that they didn’t have enough water and the Lord provided for them (Exodus 15:25). Then they grumbled that they wished they had died in their slavery instead of having to give up eating their Egyptian bread and pots of meat (Exodus 16:3) and all the other delicacies they were used to eating (Numbers 4:5). In other words they were looking back to the slavery they had been miraculously delivered from instead of ahead to the special place of freedom God wanted to take them to. They preferred the certainty of their lives in bondage to the relative uncertainty of an adventure that required them to depend on the Lord.

God became so provoked with their complaining and grumbling that He kept the Israelites wandering in the wilderness for 40 years even though the linear distance to their ultimate destination was an 11-day trip. The result was that most of the people who had departed from Egypt died in the wilderness and never got to see the Promised Land. God’s intention for the wilderness had been to purge them of their slave mentality and prepare them for ruling and reigning in the Promised Land. But by constantly looking back to where they had come from and complaining about where they were going, almost all of them lost the opportunity to enjoy the victorious future God had wanted them to have.

To help understand what these examples are telling us, let’s consider two basic observations. First, both examples show that God wanted the people to be looking forward. In each case He had a plan for the future that incorporated a desirable result but the people resisted moving into the unknown. Secondly, in both examples the people lost the blessing God had planned for them. Instead of deliverance and victory they received bondage and death. Were these a couple of isolated events or do they have general and ongoing application for all Believers?

The truth is God apparently has very strong feelings against looking back, so much so that Jesus found it necessary to say that anyone who looks back is not qualified to be in the Kingdom of God (Luke 9:62). With that statement the message of not looking back became relevant for all Believers, something for us to pay attention to and to try to understand. And it should motivate us to want to find out WHY God feels this way.

Many centuries after Lot’s wife was turned into salt, Jesus instructed His followers not to forget this unfortunate woman. He was speaking in the context of describing His second coming but His statement reveals the deeper meaning of what it means to God when we look back.

“Remember Lot’s wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.” (Luke 17:32-33)

We can conclude from this that Lot’s wife probably looked back because she feared for her life and the fear overcame her faith in the Lord to protect her as the Angels had promised. In other words, her concern for her life caused her to lose it while putting her life in God’s hands would have taken her to safety. The principle Jesus was revealing is that in order to enter into a covenant relationship with Creator God, we are required to die to self. The person you used to be before you were born again is dead and you have become a new creature whose purpose is to manifest the life of Christ.

“He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him” (2 Corinthians 5:15)

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20)

“For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” (2 Corinthians 4:11)

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

As true Christians we are called to surrender ownership of our lives so that Christ will be free to live through us. This is what we are agreeing to do when we give our hearts to God, when we ask Christ to be the Lord of our lives, when we are born again. We are agreeing to let Him take over and we are agreeing to submit to whatever plans and purposes He has for us. Our lives are no longer our own; they belong to God because Jesus paid for them. We give up our lives in the natural so we can obtain life in eternity.

The plans and purposes that God has for each Believer are always up ahead of us instead of behind. Since they are in the future, we can’t evaluate them with our five physical senses which can make us uncomfortable. The flesh is always uncomfortable with uncertainty. We must rely on the faithful direction of the Holy Spirit to lead us to the blessing and destiny God has up the road. If we spend a lot of time looking back to try to use our experiences to evaluate what is happening to us, our journey with God will be delayed because we become hesitant and indecisive. Our fear of the future makes us look back just as Lot’s wife did. But God says “stop worrying about yourself so that Christ can live through you. If you will stop looking back, if you will just trust Me and stop worrying about the future, I will take you to your blessing. I will bring you into prosperity in every area of your life: spirit, soul and body.”

When we look back we are often being drawn there by our sin, by the bondage we were once enslaved to. In that, we are no different than the Israelites. We’re already familiar with the past and frankly we enjoyed some of the things we did there before we asked Jesus to be our Lord. We forget about the darkness and that we had no peace or hope there and we only focus on the things we enjoyed, the Egyptian bread with the potted meats and delicacies. We disregard all the disappointments and the life without purpose. And like the Israelites, looking back is often accompanied by complaining to God about the uncertainty of our future, for the discomfort of our temporary trials and for the feelings of inadequacy our fear creates.

When we look back, we are putting concern for ourselves ahead of the life of Christ. We are looking for something secure in the past to anchor onto instead of being free to follow God by faith into the unknown. We can see what is behind us but we can’t see ahead as clearly as we want to. Walking in the flesh is behind us; walking by the Spirit lies ahead. Walking by fear is behind us; walking by faith carries us up the road. Selfishness is behind; love is ahead.

Friend, God loves us too much to let us dwell in the past. In fact part of the transformation we undergo into the image of Christ is to learn to stop looking back so we can increasingly focus on what lies ahead. God has a great future for each of us and we will get there a lot sooner once we learn this lesson. By looking back all the time, by trying to control everything instead of letting God take over, we are cutting off the favor and abundance He wants for us. So keep your eyes on the road ahead because your victory is waiting there.

For the last 12 months PLN has been discussing biblical prosperity from a number of different perspectives. Keep in mind that biblical prosperity is more than just financial abundance; true biblical prosperity refers to abundance and victory in every area of life: spirit, soul and body. When biblical prosperity is present nothing is missing and nothing is broken in any of these areas.

Most Christians still don’t understand that the overflowing abundance of Christ is available in this present life. We fall short in our understanding of the Word and of the scope of the inheritance that He is holding out to those who know enough to step up and receive it by faith. As a result we settle for much less than what we could receive if we only knew better and were more aggressive in our faith. If you have been looking back a lot, you may have discovered today the reason why your blessings have been less than what you expected. In sum, the related biblical Law that covers this area of life can be stated as follows: if you want the full manifestation of biblical prosperity in your life, you must pursue what lies ahead instead of focusing on the past.

We hope you and your family are getting off to an exciting start in 2007. Please contact us if we can be of any help and we’ll be looking for you again in three weeks with the next issue of Prosperous Life Newsletter. God bless you!

If you have never invited Jesus to become the Lord of your life, you can do so today by saying the following simple prayer: Jesus I believe in you and I receive you as my Lord and Savior. Please forgive me for my sins and come into my life today.

If you were sincere as you prayed this prayer, God has already come into your life and you are a new creation. Congratulations! Now ask the Lord to lead you to a good bible teaching church where you can be developed to fulfill your potential in the Kingdom of God. And please send us an e-mail advising your decision so we can rejoice for you in our prayers. If you’re unable to find a church, give us a call and we’ll help you find a good one.

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