Lot's Wife

By Ashley -
I recently decided to start reading the Old Testament as part of my personal scripture study. I will admit that my recent interest may have been encouraged by the movie Noah which we saw last week. I haven't spent much time reading the Old Testament so this has been both interesting and enlightening. I am currently in Genesis (yes I have a bit to go) at the part where Lot and his family are told to leave Sodom and Gommorrah. Lot and his family are told not to look back, but Lot's wife does and she is turned into a pillar of salt. When I initially read this (this isn't my first time) I thought "come on, you are commanded not to look back, just don't!", but then I had to take a step back. How many times have we been commanded to do something and we haven't done it? I would venture to say that like Lot's wife there are times that we all fall short, I know there are certainly times when I do. Or like Lot's wife how many times are we commanded to do something but we do question or grumble through it?

This recent reading reminded me of an article in the Ensign, titled "the best is yet to be" by Elder Jeffery R. Holland (click here). Elder Holland explains that Lot's wife not only looked back, but she wanted to go back, she wanted what Sodom and Gommorrah had to offer. That struck me, because we recently moved, and to be honest it has been difficult. Dallas wasn't an incredibly wicked place that we were commanded to leave, we had a good opportunity and left because we felt it was the right decision for our family, but I wonder how many times I have looked back and wished that we hadn't left and felt a little bit bitter that we did. Probably more than I should. Elder Holland said this about Lot's wife "In short, her attachment to the past outweighed her confidence in the future." is this what we do? Or is this what I have been doing?

Elder Holland said this about looking forward to the future:
"I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone nor to yearn vainly for yesterdays, however good those yesterdays may have been. The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead and remember that faith is always pointed toward the future. Faith always has to do with blessings and truths and events that will yet be efficacious in our lives... To yearn to go back to a world that cannot be lived in now, to be perennially dissatisfied with present circumstances and have only dismal views of the future, and to miss the here and now and tomorrow because we are so trapped in the there and then and yesterday..."

He also said this about looking forward to the future:
"Some of you may wonder: Is there any future for me? What does a new year or a new semester, a new major or a new romance, a new job or a new home hold for me? Will I be safe? Will life be sound? Can I trust in the Lord and in the future? Or would it be better to look back, to go back, to stay in the past?
To all such of every generation, I call out, “Remember Lot’s wife.” Faith is for the future. Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there. Faith trusts that God has great things in store for each of us and that Christ truly is the “high priest of good things to come” (Hebrews 9:11)."
I loved this last statement "faith is for the future, faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there. Faith trust that God has great things in store for each of us"
So I am going to keep looking forward. Each day has gotten a little bit better and a little bit easier. Each day that we have been here I am reminded that I have a Heavenly Father that loves me and has a plan in store for me, and is mindful of my struggles. And with that in mind I know that Austin is going to be awesome, I'll probably miss some things about Dallas and our friends can't be replaced, but there are good things here, we will adjust and make new friends and look forward with faith.  



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