[Devotional]: Keep Pressing Forward

Hi, and welcome! I hope you’re just as excited as I am about increasing our faith and growing closer to Jesus. Throughout my walk with Jesus, my biggest challenge has been to let go of past pains, mistakes, and emotional baggage. 

I contemplate experiences that caused me an intense amount of pain. I sit back and wonder, “Why did that happen to me? What could I have done to prevent it from happening?” Little did I know that holding onto such negative experiences does nothing but hold you back from the greatness ahead of you.

Today’s devotional will discuss the importance of not looking back and pressing forward. I pray that you take this information and apply it to whatever situation you may be facing in this current moment. Let’s get into it!

Don’t Look Back!

Almost four years ago, I was faced with some difficulties. I dealt with some family issues that resulted in me becoming more of an outcast than I already was. I met the reality of being kicked out because I spoke up about what was going on right before us. A few people didn’t like what I said, so things were being said about me that caused a huge rift.

While all of that nonsense was going on, I had gotten married (no one except my younger brother knew). My husband and I found a place of our own, and in August of 2017, I moved out. It was an exciting day because I was moving away from home so familiar, but it meant letting go of baggage and negativity.

After moving out, I found myself continuing to go back to the same place that tore me down. I thought things would get better once I moved away… things remained the same. It took many attempts and my feelings getting hurt several times to see that I needed to limit or not return to the place again. Has it been hard? Yes! But, to grow and go in the direction I want to go, I need to leave some things and some people back.

As I was reading through Genesis 19, I came across verses 12-26. Those verses tell the story of when the Lord rained down sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah. 

There are two verses that I would like for us to pay attention to today, verses 17 and 26.

Verse 17 reads, “As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains, or you will be swept away!” In that verse, the angel urgently informed Lot and his family to leave Sodom and Gomorrah because the Lord was ready to destroy them.

Verse 26 reads, “But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” Lot’s wife didn’t heed the instruction of the angel. She looked back at the city being destroyed, and the result was her becoming a pillar of salt.

(For more context, please read Genesis chapter 19) 

Those two verses (well, the whole chapter) are a prime example of the result of looking back. As humans, we have a terrible habit of going back to things or people that have hurt us, didn’t mean any good, or taken us off track. Although we don’t turn into a pillar of salt like Lot’s wife did, we tend to end up with scars (emotional or physical). 

I encourage you today to STOP LOOKING BACK! Although it’s okay to look back if you’re trying to understand behaviors or situations that may have caused you to act a certain way, it’s not okay to stay there. Learn what to need to learn from the past and move on! Keep pressing forward towards better and greater things.

-Nieshia