Don't Look Back!

Years ago, in my studies in psychology, I learned about “regression.”

Quite simply, regression is a temporary reversion to a childish behavior rather than handling stresses in a more adult way. An example would be a man who throws a temper tantrum when he doesn’t get the promotion he expected! Or a woman who reads romance novels, watches soap operas and eats a quart of ice cream to escape feelings of rejection. All regression is not bad. There’s nothing wrong with a grown man wanting to fly a kite or play basketball with his buddies. Or a grown woman shopping at the mall with her girlfriends (or reading a romance novel!). But ultimately, we all need to find GODLY ways of dealing with our stressors.

Scott Peck said it well: “Many people are either unwilling or unable to suffer the pain of giving up the outgrown which needs to be forsaken. Consequently, they cling, often forever, to their old patterns of thinking and behaving, thus failing … to truly grow up and experience the joyful sense of rebirth that accompanies the transition into greater maturity.”

I can think of no better example of regression than Lot’s wife in the Old Testament. Unable to make a complete break with Sodom, she looked back, turned into a pillar of salt, losing the new opportunities that were promised to her. God said: Do NOT look back. She did. Why? Was she thinking about what and who she had left behind more than she was thinking about the new experience that awaited her? Was she unable to let go of the familiar for the unknown? At the moment of crisis, she regressed. And she lost it all!

As you go through the crises of your life, you will be tempted to look back; you will be tempted to revert to the old comfortable, familiar ways you used to use to deal with crises. Will you regress? or progress? Don’t be like Lott’s wife. You may be saved, but you will lose the opportunities God has planned for you. As the world around us becomes more insecure and uncertain, let us be careful how we respond. Let us be like Jesus: “ … who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). Look forward, look up, look higher.

Jesus said, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).