"So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, 'Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed'...But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.” ~Genesis 19:17, 26 | To complement this month's study by Tiffanie, below is an excerpt from The Re-Purposed Life that helps us understand how vital it is to keep moving forward and to forget those things which are behind. What's ahead of us, is always greater than what's behind! |
Like most men and women in the Bible, when we cooperate with God’s plans, there first requires a change of scenery. Esther had to move to the palace with a notorious king. Noah had to move his family into a big boat…with no water around. Lot and his family had to leave Sodom. Abram had to leave his family and homeland. Ruth left her homeland and her culture. Rahab betrayed her people, then left her home, her religion, and her lifestyle. David had to leave the pasture. Daniel had to go into captivity…and the lion’s den. His friends had to go into the fiery furnace. All the disciples left their jobs. John the Baptist left his ministry in order to point his followers to Jesus. Paul left his education, profession, and everything and everybody he knew to live in Arabia for three years.
Every one of these individuals, and more, made the sacrificial change of scenery in order to receive a new, greater purpose. Their lives went from obscurity, or negative notoriety in Paul’s case, to legendary. They did things with God that we are still reading about millennia later. Their stories inspire millions every day and have helped shape the faiths of entire nations the world over. The trials and troubles they suffered served to equip those who came after them to be just as courageous and bold. Their triumphs serve to give us hope. And even Lot's wife's disobedience serves as a warning for us.
Take these examples and never be afraid to be called away from what is familiar. A repurposed life will require being stripped of the people and places that have made you comfortable in your former situation, so that you can be repurposed for what is to come…without the temptation and distraction of “what used to be.” I promise you it won’t be easy. But it will also not be unremarkable.
Taken from The Re-Purposed Life, Vol. 2, by Dawn L. Bedingfield
Living Always With Great Expectation,
Dawn~
Every one of these individuals, and more, made the sacrificial change of scenery in order to receive a new, greater purpose. Their lives went from obscurity, or negative notoriety in Paul’s case, to legendary. They did things with God that we are still reading about millennia later. Their stories inspire millions every day and have helped shape the faiths of entire nations the world over. The trials and troubles they suffered served to equip those who came after them to be just as courageous and bold. Their triumphs serve to give us hope. And even Lot's wife's disobedience serves as a warning for us.
Take these examples and never be afraid to be called away from what is familiar. A repurposed life will require being stripped of the people and places that have made you comfortable in your former situation, so that you can be repurposed for what is to come…without the temptation and distraction of “what used to be.” I promise you it won’t be easy. But it will also not be unremarkable.
Taken from The Re-Purposed Life, Vol. 2, by Dawn L. Bedingfield
Living Always With Great Expectation,
Dawn~
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