Posted Feb 07, 2024 |
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Discover how to navigate life’s challenges with wisdom from today’s episode of the Satisfied Soul. Unpack the importance of looking forward, not back, with insights from Jelly Roll’s transformation and biblical teachings from the story of Lot’s wife.
Have you ever felt tangled in the complexities of your beliefs, or found yourself looking back at your past with longing instead of facing the future with anticipation? Today’s episode of the Satisfied Soul is a balm for anyone struggling to find direction and healing in their spiritual journey.
Sarah, a pastor and clinical therapist, delves into the transformative power of God’s word and how it can lead to a more satisfying and enjoyable Christian life. With passion and insight, she helps us shake off the “boring” and fall in love with the truth, guiding us towards a future filled with hope and promise.
The episode features the compelling story of Jelly Roll, a country western singer-songwriter whose life took a dramatic turn. From a troubled youth marked by crime and incarceration, Jelly Roll’s life changed course upon the birth of his daughter. His journey from prison to being named Country Music Artist of the Year is nothing short of inspirational. His wise words, “There’s a reason why the windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror,” resonate throughout the episode, symbolizing the importance of focusing on what lies ahead rather than what we’ve left behind.
Drawing parallels with the biblical account of Sodom and Gomorrah and the poignant tale of Lot’s wife, Sarah encourages us to not make the same mistake of looking back with longing. They explore various reasons why people cling to their past, from lost loves and grief to past glories and pains, and how these attachments can keep us from experiencing the fullness of God’s plan for our lives.
The episode is not just a narrative; it’s a call to action. It’s an invitation to consider the “rearview mirror” of our lives and to turn our gaze forward, towards the “windshield” — the vast expanse of possibilities and blessings that God has in store for us. Sarah shares powerful scripture verses that offer comfort and assurance of God’s unwavering presence and promises.
So, if you’re ready to embark on a journey of mental healing and spiritual discovery, this episode is for you. Listen as we learn to let go of the past and embrace a future where our souls can truly be satisfied. Remember, the path ahead is vast and full of wonder — let’s enjoy the view together.
Join us on this transformative journey by tuning into the Satisfied Soul podcast. Your heart and soul will thank you.
Scroll down to read podcast transcript.
As a pastor and clinical therapist, I help believers untangle messy theology.
> Sarah: Welcome. You’re listening to the satisfied soul, where I help believers untangle messy theology. As a pastor and clinical therapist, I am passionate about helping people discover how God’s word is intended to bring direction, safety through boundaries, mental healing, and help you enjoy your Christian journey. Join me as we shake off the boring of God’s word, find a love for his truth, and discover a satisfied soul in our everyday life.
This past November, a speech was heard on TV that stated, I want to tell you that I don’t know what you’re going through, but your success through it is right in front of you. I want to tell you that there’s a reason why the windshield is bigger than the rear view mirror. These are the wise words of jelly roll. A country western singer songwriter, he lived a life of crime in his teen years and was put in jail for the first time at the age of 14. He is covered in tattoos and spent a majority of his teen and young adult years in jail.
He began to change his life around when he found out his daughter was born. While he was in prison, he passed his GED, got saved, got custody of his daughter, had a son, got married, worked his butt off to create music, and was just declared country music artist of the year. He has not looked back.
A similar story was shared by God in Genesis 19. In the Book of Genesis, chapter 19, verses one through 38, God illustrates the actions of two towns, Sodom and Gomorrah. The Bible tells about Abraham and Lot, his nephew, have moved from their previous home to an area that is large enough for them to spread out. Abraham goes one way, and Lot takes his family to Sodom and Gomorrah area.
These towns were filled with lustful sin that made God very angry, and he decided to destroy them both. But Abraham begged God on the behalf of his nephew not to destroy the entire population because he wanted his nephew and family saved. God promised to get Lot and his wife out of there. As they were leaving, Lot’s wife looked back longingly at the life she was leaving instead of looking ahead in anticipation for what God had in store to bless them. So God turned her into a pillar of salt.
There are so many famous people in the Bible, and only one of them who actually wasn’t very famous was, asked by God for us to remember the stories of Abraham, Moses, Isaac, Jacob, Esther, BathSheba, the gospels, even Paul. The second most favorite popular person in the whole Bible was not somebody that God said, remember, there was only one person. Lot’s wife looked back on the life she was leaving because she longed for it. Instead of looking forward to the promise of freedom God was wanting to give her, she was in love with the sinful life. She loved her past so much that it was more important to her to have that than to look at what God had in store for her. She craved the things of her past.
Like Lot’s wife, people look back for many reasons.
Number one, a past romantic relationship. There are people that are in a current relationship that will look back on their past relationships and wish they were still in them, or they’ll compare the two relationships that this person used to do this for me.
Number two, the death of a loved one. We look at the grief that we receive after the death of somebody we love as just misery. And wishing they were still alive and praying to them and talking to them, believing that they’re an angel and they’re watching over us. That’s not what the Bible says at all. The BIble says there are two clear spaces. They’re going to go to either hell or heaven. Neither one of those places will they longingly think of us or watch over us, because in hell, they’re going to be too occupied. In heaven, they are also going to be too occupied. The Bible says when they get there, they will be consumed with worshipping him. But we look back on a death of a loved one.
Number three, their teen and young adult years were the best years of their life. You see this more predominantly in men because they had some sport that they were involved in and they were the all American whatever. And so they look back at how their glory years were in excitement and longing for wanting to be that. Or you get the adult men who didn’t get to have that kind of childhood and are longing for it and then revert back to childlike behavior as adults having midlife crisis, trying to do things in their adult years that they didn’t get to do in their young years because now they physically are able to. And it can cause disruption within their household. because it’s a longing, it’s a consuming that they have over God’s best for them.
Number four, past hurts and pain someone has caused you more often than not, when somebody has caused you pain, you are very quick to bring it up. I have done this. everybody I’ve ever known has done this. They bring up the past as a weapon of defense in the conversation they’re currently having. They’ve been so hurt that it’s constantly brought up instead of being left in the past. Now, that’s not to say that you’re not supposed to address it. We are not meant to look back at the past of our life with longing like lot’s wife. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be addressing the hurt. There are issues that come up, from past, things that cause you a trigger. If you were traumatized by something and a couple of months or even a year down the road, a sound, a smell, a person, something triggers you, you will very likely have that past come forward to the future and will need to address it. It is not that you’re wanting to throw that back in somebody’s face, but because it didn’t get addressed properly the first time. It needs to be worked through. It needs to be discussed in a way that there’s solutions to the problem.
Just like Jelly Roll said, that the rear view mirror is smaller. It means that our focus, our main focus is meant to be the windshield. The rear view mirror is smaller because those problems are in the past, which means they should be smaller in focus and smaller in view than what’s right in front of us. You can still see the past, but with distance, the past will get smaller and smaller until there is no longer a visibility of it. The pain will go away. The fear, anger, sadness, resentment, irritation or frustration will go away with the support of time and separation from the harmful past situation. No matter how your past, recent or distant, has affected you, God promises several things. He promises, that he is with you. He promises that he has great plans for you. He promises that there is a future and a hope for you. He promises that he will wipe away every tear. He promises that he will take away the hurt. He will defend you.
Some very good verses for that to consider, and read through and meditate on are Jeremiah 2911, Philippians 4:19, Proverbs 10:22, II Corinthians 9:8, Jeremiah 30:17, and Revelation 21:4.
Take these things into consideration about the possibility of looking back. God has a future and a hope for you. He loves you. It’s his desire for you to see things differently, to focus on the love that he has given you, not the hurts that others have caused. And so think about those things as the rear view mirror. Look at the future, the windshield, and how much he loves you and share that love with others. Share the love that Christ has and that he’s given you. To someone who is focused on their rearview mirror, you can be the Jelly Roll to somebody else.
Thank you for tuning in!
