I was recently in a conversation with a friend who was really

struggling in her Christian walk.

The more we talked the more her heart became revealed to me.

As I listened to her and the reality of the decisions that she had been making, all I could think about in that moment was how far she had come in such a short time to go backwards now.

My heart ached for her because I knew what scripture reads in Matthew 12:44-45

”When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.“ Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

Going back to familiar territory, going back to familiar sin, you don’t get to start over, it becomes worse.

With that thought in mind our conversation leads me to the story of Lot’s wife in Genesis 19: 26

26)but his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

You see, there were two angels who went to Lot and said , “Do you have any other relatives in this city? Do you have any sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or any other relatives? If you do, tell them to leave now, because we are about to destroy this city. The Lord has heard of all the evil that is here, so he has sent us to destroy it.”

as scripture continues it reads:

in verse 17 they brought them out of the city, one of the men said, “Run for your lives! Don’t look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Run to the mountains, or you will be destroyed.”

and going further down in scripture it states Lots wife looked back and became a pillar of salt.

As I ponder over her becoming a pillar of salt, I can’t help but relate the message back to the conversation I had with my friend and her decisions.

You see, Lots wife made an intentional (focused action) decision to look back, which was a direct disobedience and because of it,her life was no longer.

So, the way I see it, when we have been saved and God delivers us out of our sins, we’re not perfect

But we strive daily to become

More in His image and less

Of us, we can’t go backwards. Just as I shared with my friend, I told her she couldn’t go backwards, and if she continued looking back, her heart would become hardened and she would find herself in a place that could cause her to become

stuck, paralyzed or it could become even harder for her to come back from it.

It’s not always easy maintaining our Christian walk, especially when there are so many obstacles and challenges that pull at us daily, but it’s in those obstacles, or challenges, it’s in the moments of uncertainties that we must push forward and not cave in.

My encouragement to you today,

if you find yourself looking backwards to the days of old, if you find yourself looking back to the places or the things that you were once most familiar with, the things that brought you despair, the false securities, the deceptions and lies then I’d say “don’t look back too long” for you may not be able to turn back around!