Letting Go of the Bondage of the Past
“And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.”
Genesis 19:25-26
Overthrown
Don’t pick up what God has overthrown. God destroyed and overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah for a reason. Your past is simply just that…the past. God wants to redirect your present and shift your future. When God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah with fire, it represented a new season for Lot and his family. It was their decision to either walk in the redirection or stay stuck in the past. It was their decision to either stay in the place of destruction or move forward and grab hold to the place of promise.
Holding on to dead things
When you hold on to the idols of the past they will contaminate your future. Lot’s wife heart was still enslaved by the place she held close to her heart, the place of that God destroyed. Are you holding on to places and patterns in your heart that God has destroyed. Your future cannot be held captive by the old patterns of the past. When God delivers you out of bondage, your eyes must be fixed on Him and Him alone. You must be determined not to look back or go back to the place that God has condemned.
Looking Forward
No matter how bruised your past may have been, your past is not an indication of the possibilities of your future. Your experiences can serve as a testament to how God can transform you and deliver you out of the place of bondage, leading you into His place of promise. Lot’s wife heart was trapped in the place that God consumed. You can’t take an enslaved and contaminated heart into your promise land. When you choose to keep an entangled heart, one that idolizes the things and patterns of the past, you will stagnate your future by esteeming and valuing your past over God’s process and future promise. Fear not. Go forward.
The Enslavement of Fear
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7
Your fear of failure will keep you stagnated in the place of comfortability. Fear of the unknown will keep you bound to the mediocrity of your past. Have faith and trust in God, knowing that He has you in His hands. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29:11
Trust God
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
2 Corinthians 5:17
God has made you new in Him. When you accept Christ as Lord and Savior and walk with Him daily, you’re setting Him on the throne of your heart and exalting Him above the pain of your past – allowing Him to lead your heart as you’re shaped by His Word. Meditate upon His Word daily and decide not to stay salty and perpetually stuck looking back at the past. Look forward to Him, keeping your eyes fixed on His Word and plans for your life.
“Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”
Joshua 1:9
