What would you do if you were given a second chance at life? what if you had the opportunity to start again? to start fresh? To have a new beginning? Most people would take advantage of that second chance and be grateful to God for it. Unfortunately, many people squander their second chance and the reason why they do that is because they are too busy trying to hold on to the old life; the old way of thinking. They don't realize that the second chance that they're given is a chance for them to begin a new.
Isaiah 43:18-19 says, “forget the former things. Behold, I am doing a new thing, now shall spring forth can you not perceive it? I will make rivers in the wilderness and roads in the desert. You see, when you're given a second chance, you can't do things like you did in the past you can’t go back to the person that you were before. You have to focus on what is current and what's in front of you. The reality is you can never go back to the way you were before. You can't go back to your old life because if you try to go back to your old life, go back to the things, places, and people that God delivered you from, you will forever be a slave to those places.
In Genesis 19, Lot and his family were supernaturally taken out of Sodom. They had the chance to experience a new life. But Lot's wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt. Why did she look back? Maybe it was because of the noise of fire and brimstone falling. Maybe it was because she knew her friends and sons-in-law were dying. Maybe she didn't want to leave the life she knew. Lot and his daughters ended up in a cave and their story ended with drunken incest resulting in 2 sons who would later be enemies of Israel. Nobody knows why Lot and his daughters didn't just return to Abraham after losing everything. What is clear is that they couldn’t see the world beyond the cave. Physically they were out of Sodom, but Sodom never left them.
The Israelites were supernaturally delivered from Egypt. They saw God rain down ten plagues on Egypt which was actually judgment against the false gods that were worshipped. They saw God open the Red Sea before them while blocking Pharaoh and his armies with a pillar of fire. They watched the sea cover Pharaoh and his armies. To this day, parts of their chariots are still found at the bottom of the Red Sea. However, when things got rough during their journey to the Promised Land, they complained. They even decided to build a golden calf and worshipped it. Even after they got in trouble for their idolatry, they still complained. They forgot that God was still there guiding them. They forgot what He had done for them. They were even talking about going back to Egypt and talking about the good things…completely forgetting how things really were.
When the spies came back after spying out the Promised Land, ten spies had a negative report. But Joshua and Caleb spoke life and showed the massive fruit they’d brought back. The Israelites chose to listen to the negative report which resulted in God telling them that they will NOT enter the Promised Land. They will die in the desert like they kept saying. Suddenly, they decided that they were going to take the land like Joshua and Caleb said, but it was too late. (Numbers 14) They were defeated and wandered in the wilderness for 40 years until all of them died. The only people who crossed over the Jordan were Joshua, Caleb, and the next generation. The Israelites were given a chance to do something with their freedom, but they squandered it. Physically they were free from Egypt and Pharaoh. But Pharaoh was still in control and Egypt were still in them.
When God delivers you from a place or people that spell destruction, don’t go back. Don’t go back physically and don’t go back mentally. You can physically be free, but emotionally and spiritually, you’re still in your Egypt/Sodom. What good does it do to still long for something or someone that’s poison? Go to God and get Egypt out of you. Get Pharaoh out of you. Get Sodom out of you in Jesus name. Don’t blow your second chance because you’re still carrying that place or those people. Walk free and grow.
