Where You Look, You Will Go

Editor’s note: Please, join us for the Don’t Look Back OBS starting  January 22^nd. Sign up today!

For thirty-plus years now, I’ve been going to women’s conferences, and I don’t remember ever hearing a message on Lot’s wife, nor do I ever remember teaching one. And yet, of the possible 170 women mentioned in Scripture, she is the only one that Jesus tells us to remember. Why her? Why not Eve, Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Ruth, Rahab, Esther, Elizabeth, or even Mary, his own mother? Of all the women Jesus could have told us to remember, he mentioned only one, Lot’s wife. ~ Christine Caine, from Chapter 1 of Don’t Look Back

Opening Discussion

Take five minutes and answer these questions to open your time before jumping into the video session.

1. On a scale of one to ten, how easy is it for you to be part of a study like this?
2. What excites you about being part of this study?
3. What do you hope to get out of this study?

Session One Video (22 minutes)

 

As you watch, take notes on anything that stands out to you.

Vespa story

You cannot move forward while you’re looking back

Where you look, you will go

Remember Lot’s wife

If we look back and linger, we become stuck in the past

Salt is used to preserve

Group Discussion Questions

Group leader, read quotes and commentary aloud and use prompts to guide your discussion time.

I open with a story of taking a motorcycle safety course and the crucial reminder where you look, you will go. I write:

We will always move in the direction of our focus.

We’ll always end up going to wherever it is that we are looking. Where we look in life is absolutely crucial.

1.What sports or activities have you tried that involve the principle where you look, you will go?

How have you found this principle to be true in your daily life? Spiritual life?

2.Ask a volunteer to read Hebrews 12:1–2 aloud, and then discuss the following:

What did Jesus focus on in the most painful part of his journey? What are you most focused on right now?
How pleased are you with the results?
How would your life be different if your sole focus was Christ?

3.Select a few volunteers to split reading the passages Genesis 19:15–26 and Luke 17:28–32. Discuss the following questions regarding the passages:

What does the angel specifically warn about in Genesis 19:17?

What did Lot’s wife desire that caused her to look back longingly and disobey the angel?

Describe a time when you felt torn between what you were leaving and where you were going.

How did you handle the situation?

When we work at preserving the past, lingering in nostalgia, we can keep ourselves from the truth of the present and the pain of reality. If we linger in the past, we run the risk of it becoming an idealized version of what really was. ~ Christine

4.Where do you long for something that once was? That is no more? That can never be again?

Where are you believing that if you linger long enough, you might get back what God told you to leave?

5.Lot’s wife disobeyed and became calcified and paralyzed for eternity as a pillar of salt. Circle any of the following where you feel stuck now.

Fears of future Thoughts

Attitudes Desires Wounds Future hopes

Opinions Disappointments Relationships Other: ________________

Possessions Comforts Past regrets

Hurts Pains Mistakes

Which of these holds you back most? Share your responses with the group.

6.Select a few volunteers to split reading the following passages: Ephesians 2:8–10; Hebrews 6:19; Hebrews 13:5; and Hebrews 13:8. Then take some time to meditate on these verses and discuss their significance for you to begin moving forward in faith.

Discuss practical ways you can become unstuck and focus your eyes on Jesus, your author and perfector.

Call to Action

Team up with someone in your group (or online if you are doing this study virtually) and share where you’re feeling the most stuck in your life and faith. Tell them a little about your situation and take a moment to pray for each other to find freedom and move forward into all God has for each of you.

Conclusion

Group leader, read aloud to the group to close your time together this week.

It’s not always easy to move on when God beckons us forward, especially when things are safe, comfortable, and just the way we like it. Equally, it is often difficult to move on when we have experienced deep trauma, pain, or suffering, and we feel utterly hopeless and helpless. Moving on is something we know we should do, what we often want to do, and at times what we refuse to do, but it remains something God eagerly wants for us.

Wherever you may be on this continuum, may you be able to identify places where you are prone to being stuck, or maybe are stuck, and may you be infused with the strength of the Holy Spirit to take the next step. May you look forward to the future God has for you and keep moving toward it in bold faith — especially when the world is ever-changing.

Closing Prayer

Select a volunteer to read the closing prayer over the group.

Heavenly Father, like Lot’s wife, we don’t want to look back and linger. We want to move into the fullness of all your plans and desires for us. We know there are areas where we’ve become stuck and we need you, in your great love, to reveal them. Show us fresh ways to get unstuck and give us the courage to move forward in your purposes and promises. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Your Turn

Come share your thoughts on Don’t Look Back and sign up today for the Don’t Look Back OBS starting  January 22^nd.