I had the privilege of preaching at my church today. My message today was entitled “Remember Lot’s Wife”. In the 17th chapter of Luke, Jesus is warning about the end of time events. Nestled between signs in the heavens and the wicked generation, He gives us the 2nd shortest verse in the Bible. Luke 17:32 says “Remember Lot’s wife.” I shared much about looking back, getting stuck, feeling paralyzed and not moving forward. We don’t want to be like Lot’s wife whose disobedience caused her to turn into a pillar of salt.
It was actually a timely message for me personally, as the 1 year anniversary of my husband’s death is quickly approaching. Try as I may, this has dominated my thoughts recently. I was really preaching to myself about not getting stuck or paralyzed by this upcoming event.
The day after my husband’s death I didn’t think I could survive another day without him. I felt this way days 2, 3, 4, 5 … 3 weeks later I returned to work not knowing how I could put one foot in front of the other. 3 months, 6 months, later I still felt that I could not make it another day, YET I DID. In fact, I’ve almost made it an entire year. No, it wasn’t easy. Yes, there were many tears shed and much heartache, but I have survived and even thrived.
I attribute my success (if you want to call it that) to my faith in God, my great support system, and my tenacity to face each day with a positive attitude. As I was preaching today, I shared that God is a God of the Go. In fact, the first 2 letters of GOD are GO. Think of it- He said “Go into the world and preach the gospel.” (Mark 16:15) “Whom shall I send? Who will GO?” (Isaiah 6:8) “GO, your faith has made you whole” (Mark 10:52) Go across the Red Sea, Go into the Ark, Go into the Promised Land.
He said Go many more times than stay. It is easy to sit and do NOTHING. But God doesn’t usually let us rest on our laurels. He tells us to get up and GO. That’s what I do every day. I get up and GO and do my best to follow Him whole-heartedly. Honestly I’d rather stay in bed and pull the covers over my head, but I get up and GO.
My encouragement today was this: stop being paralyzed by your past, fear, guilt, grief, or whatever is holding you back. Make some forward progress. What has held you in a holding pattern where you are taxiing down the runway but never taking off? I am encouraging you to break through and GO. Don’t look back, unless it’s to look over your shoulder to see how far you’ve come. Remember, God is the God of the GO!
Thanks for sharing this. I know God has been telling me to go forward and stopping sitting the past few weeks. It has been scary to go forward but I’m choosing to grow forward. I want to grow closer and closer to God each day. I’m determined to break habits and hang ups that are holding me back.
I actively began my journey as a Christian in 1968. I’m not sure if I could figure out how many messages I’ve heard from Virginia to Texas to Indiana to Colorado to North Carolina – but there have been many messages. Your message of the word “go” in the word GOD also has the word do. Both go hand in hand and it was inspiring to read the scriptures linked to go.
Today the nurse in the doctor’s office told me she was sorry for my loss – she lost her husband five years ago. Their daughter was baptized Sunday and it was a joy but a pang of sorrow that he was not beside them both. She basically has done the thing you were encouraging all of us to do – don’t stay stuck – go forward.
Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for sharing your comments. I’ve been really praying for you as the 3rd approaches. Know that I’m thinking of you and praying for you. Hugs!