Let’s be real – sometimes it’s hard to move forward when things from the past keep tugging at us. We can begin to second-guess ourselves and look for the good in a bad situation. When we were in it, we felt the pain, anxiety, stress, and misery of the circumstances. The abusive relationship, the job we hated, the friend who betrayed us, or even the family members who took advantage of us.
When you’re in that place, you can see that you need to move on, get out of it, and improve your life. You talked about it, prayed about it, and waited for it. Now, you find yourself looking back. My sisters, the thing about looking back is that we tend to identify with what was good in it rather than what made us want to move past it.
There are moments in life when God delivers us, clearly, decisively, and mercifully, and yet our hearts still linger behind.
In Genesis 19, we learn about one of the most sobering and often misunderstood figures in Scripture: Lot’s wife. Her story is brief, but its lesson is timeless. I believe we don’t learn her name because what’s most important is the lesson of leaving the past behind. Hundreds of years later, Jesus warned His followers to “remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32), linking her fate to the need to be prepared and not get attached to earthly things when God prepares a way for our escape or release from people and things that hold us back.
Of the more than 180 women mentioned in the bible, Lot’s wife is the only woman Jesus tells us to remember. That’s powerful! As God prepared to destroy Sodom (where Lot’s family lived) along with the city of Gomorrah for their wickedness, angels warned Lot and his family to escape. They were urged to leave everything behind and, most importantly, not to look back.
As the cities were destroyed, Lot’s wife did exactly what she was warned not to do; she looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26). I believe this was not merely a glance, but a moment of longing for the life she was leaving behind. Though God was leading her to safety, her heart remained tethered to what was familiar.
How many times have you prayed or said to yourself or to a friend that you wish you could get out of a particular situation, or that you will stop being friends with the person who repeatedly takes advantage of you, or the abusive relationship you were in? Once you were free of it, you found yourself looking back and making excuses – at least you had a man, or could you have done things differently, or perhaps you miss the girlfriend you used to talk to every day. Now you feel alone.
Lot’s wife stands as a powerful reminder that deliverance requires letting go. When God gives us the strength and a way forward, looking back can keep us bound to what He is trying to free us from.
As fire and judgment descended on Sodom and Gomorrah, angels urgently escorted Lot and his family to safety with a clear command – “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain.” (Genesis 19:17)
Lot’s wife physically left the city, but her heart did not. She looked back, and in doing so, she became a pillar of salt.
This is the same urgency we must have about our future, our safety, and self-respect. There is something better waiting for you if you stay determined to leave the past in the past, or if you decide that now is the time to get out of your situation with urgency.
Although the bible does not tell us why she looked back, we can reflect on our own lives and imagine it may have been because.
• She was leaving behind familiarity
• Walking away from the life she had built
• Severing relationships, routines, comforts, and her identity to step into the unknown
• Although she lived in a broken environment, it was her home, it was familiar, and she had become comfortable in it
Sometimes looking back isn’t reflection, it’s longing for what God has already declared unsafe or no longer suitable for us. We become attached to former versions of ourselves, and even as we desire growth, we cling to unhealthy relationships, closed seasons, and familiar pain simply because we’ve learned how to survive there.
Lot’s wife reminds us that partial obedience is still disobedience. There is a cost to looking back and yearning for what God has told us to leave behind. Even memories once filled with joy can become harmful when we allow them to anchor us to a past we were never meant to relive. Gratitude for what once was does not require us to live there.
As Ecclesiastes 3:1 reminds us, “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.” Moving forward requires release. Letting go does not mean erasing what once brought happiness; it means trusting God enough to walk into what He is doing now. Living in the past cannot heal us; it only delays the freedom found in obedience and forward movement.
Is God calling you toward a new beginning? We attend church, read devotionals, and pray, yet still look back on what God told us to leave. It’s okay to let go and move on!
Tips for the new year
• Don’t romanticize what God rescued you from
• Don’t revisit what nearly destroyed you
• Don’t measure your future by your past
• Don’t look back to confirm what God already spoke
• Appreciate good times past and look ahead to make new ones
Prayer
Lord, give me the courage to trust You fully.
Help me let go of what You’ve already delivered me from.
Strengthen my heart to move forward without regret, fear, or hesitation.
I don’t want to be preserved in yesterday—I want to live in Your promises today.
Amen.
