I have lots more to say about Sarah, but today I’m thinking more about Lot’s wife. The story of her looking back for one last look has always seemed a little crazy to me. Crazy and cruel. Crazy for her to look back after God had clearly told her not to and cruel for God to actually turn her into a pillar of salt. But then again, she was human, a mere mortal like the rest of us who don’t always do what God tells us to do. We try, but sometimes we slip and fall just like Lot’s wife. (It bugs me that she doesn’t have a name…at least not in the scriptures). Still, what she did seems like such a minor infraction. A backwards glance, and she’s forever a chunk of sodium
There’s got to be an explanation. Why was God so emphatic about not looking back, and why did he mete out such severe punishment? After all, the ramifications of that act affected her entire family. Lot had no wife; his daughters had no mother. I used to think it was such an oft-repeated story because looking back is unhealthy? How can one move forward if she’s forever looking longingly at yesterday? Some people live so much in the land of Yesterday that they can’t enjoy the gift of the present or plan with hope for tomorrow.
Yesterday, however, I got an additional insight into Lot’s wife. I was stuck in traffic on I-20 in SC for about 30 minutes. When we moved at all, it was literally inching along and then stopping, inching along and then stopping. When we finally began moving again, I could see half a dozen highway patrol cars beside the highway with a banged up vehicle. The reason we were barely moving soon became apparent. People were slowly riding by “rubber necking” to see what was happening…or what had happened. For some reason, I thought of Lot’s wife. Could she have been one of the first known rubber neckers? Did she just want to have a look at what happened to Sodom? Was curiosity her downfall instead of a reluctance to move on?
Whatever the reason, Lot’s wife’s disobedience affected her entire family, and centuries later, we’re still learning lessons from her backwards glance. Do what God tells you and don’t look back.
2 comments:
Ok, so this may seem greatly off the mark but...
Have you ever noticed how people mellow out when they have kids? They stop obsessing over the least little dust mite and learn to let the little things go?
Well, maybe Jesus mellowed God out in that same way. Old Testament God was fearsome and vengeful. New Testament God, not so much.
I just think that it is interesting that we always see the God/Jesus relationship going in one direction. Is it possible, though, that Jesus (through his humanity) gave God a greater understanding of humanity? And through his divinity gave us a greater understanding of his divinity.
Sorry about the length. It's just that I've been mulling parenthood over quite a bit.
First, thank you for visiting this blog and posting such an insightful commnet. It's the kind of comment that makes me feel like saying, "Duh, why didn't I ever think of that?"
It's never crossed my mind before, and yet it seems like a likely thing (too many "like" words in that sentence). After a parent has a child, her (or his) life is never, never, never the same again. It seems that every lesson you need to learn will be taught by your children beginning with patience, humility, gratitude, sacrifice, and even some good old "mellowing out."
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