DON'T LOOK BACK!

In 2023 my family and I moved from Brooklyn, NY to Delaware. NY was the only place we'd ever lived. It was home! And in some ways still is. Our friends live there, our loved ones live there, our childhood homes, schools and churches are all in NYC. I was married and gave birth to my children in NYC so it's ALLLLL my family and I had ever known. Needless to say, leaving was extremely hard. The first year in Delaware was rough! Culture shock, no streetlights and suburban quiet almost took me out. I could hear crickets chirping loud at night instead of the Soca van driving down my Brooklyn Street. I didn't like the stillness because I was used to the hustle and bustle of Brooklyn. And I didn't care for having to restart my life in a new and unfamiliar place! We knew absolutely NOBODY in DE. Where am I going to get my nails done? Do they have Chinese grocers out here? Where are the food spots? Where's the beauty supply store? A sista needs some Kanekalon! Where can we find entertainment? Where will we go to church? How will we make connections? These were questions that made me reminisce about and long to return to the very place that I knew God was calling us OUT OF!

In April 2022, (before leaving NY) I shared a message with the VW community entitled 'DONT LOOK BACK'. (You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/4lWDXF54Ous?si=ZRuh42z5Mj3aDw2A). God has a way of reminding me of all that I've shared with you guys when I'm dealing with my own stuff. Because if it's true for you, it's also true for me! The story, found in Genesis 19, is told about Lot's wife and how her "looking back" cost her her life. Like us, Lot and his family, were living in a place that God commanded them to leave, albeit for completely different reasons. Nevertheless, they had to go. They were well established, had family, friends, businesses and wealth in Sodom & Gomorrah. Their life was there. Lot had only moved to Sodom & Gomorrah but his wife was a native to the villages so you can imagine how she must've felt when she was informed that she had to go. Have you EVER had to leave some place that was familiar to you? For whatever the reason? I, certainly, fully understand now what must've been going through her mind. Angels appear to warn Lot of impending destruction and urge him to leave town quickly, with his family, so they don't get caught up in the judgment. While we didn't leave NY because of coming judgment, I was reminded of three very important things these angels told Lot and his family before ushering them out of the doomed towns. Those three things came flooding back to me when we arrived in Delaware (all of us in a funk) and I kept hearing them in my spirit over and over again for months. It behooves us, as a community, to BEAR AND KEEP THEM IN MIND when God is moving us forward. They are found in vs.17:

1. Run for your lives! But why did they say run for your LIFE?? Was it really that serious? For them it definitely was but is it that serious for us? They said run for your life because their lives depended on whether or not they left that place and so will yours! We were stressed in NYC! Between the pandemic, rising prices, crime and congestion, we felt our mental wellbeing being impacted. Stress kills and we didn't want to be its next victims. If God is calling you OUT of a relationship, a place, a job, a career, a lifestyle, a church or a situation and you don't flee, you will DIE! You may be used to it. It might be all you've ever known but get out of there. Because not doing so may not cause a physical death but you will experience death in some other way. Emotional, mental, spiritual, financial, etc. So RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!

   
   

2. Don’t look back and don’t stop in the valley! This is a twofer. Don’t look back means keep moving forward. Looking back keeps us from forward motion EVERYTIME. Whatever the past looked like the enemy of our progression majors in causing us to dwell on what was because looking back clouds our future. When we are constantly looking back on what was it’s hard for us, near impossible, to maintain forward motion. We can't see what's up ahead, what God has in store for us. And the truth of the matter is we won't make it to our destination looking back. Try driving a car looking in the rear view mirror the whole time and see how far you get. I'm kidding...don't try that. And I hope you know there are demonic spirits ASSIGNED to draw you back, suck you in and keep you from advancing!! Ask the addict! The angels knew their attachment to their homeland and God knows ours to all of the things we don't want to move on from. So DON'T LOOK BACK! Those three words rang in my ears until last year. At least!

   
   

   The angels also told them don’t stop in the valley. The low place where you feel depressed because you had to leave what was familiar...even if it was dysfunctional or just not good for you. For them it was literal, for us it's figurative. That valley is transitional. It's the midway point where you start feeling like what you had in the past is better than what lies ahead. The place where you're scared of the unknown. My husband and I wanted to leave NY for a long time. We prayed, talked and dreamt about it. There were things about it I could no longer tolerate or endure. The traffic, the smog, the dirt, alternate side parking, no parking, astronomical insurance, high cost of living, etc. But trust me when I tell you that leaving took a piece of my heart out and for the first year or so there were times when I wanted to come back even though I no longer wanted to be there. I just wanted a beef patty & coco bread! Lot's wife got stuck in that transitional low place and we can too. When you’re in that valley, the going gets tough because you're going to want to run back to that past! Every doubt and fear will arise in the valley. Every question will surface...what have we done? Did we really hear God? Did we do the right thing by leaving? This is too hard. Even if you were sure before! Remember the children of Israel after leaving Egypt? It saddened Lot’s wife that she had to go. It saddened her that she was leaving friends and family and her influence behind, and it did me too. Stopping along the way out of a situation will tempt you to return to the very thing that you’re supposed to leave. So don't stop in the valley...thankfully we won’t turn into a pillar of salt but, in the spirit, our souls can become so encrusted that we can’t move forward.

   
   

3. Escape to the mountains! The high place! The place of ultimate elevation (mental, emotional and spiritual)! You’re higher up, you have a much better view of all that you left behind. When you’re on the mountain, you can see that situation, that place for exactly what it was! The high place is where God wants to take you to. The place that when you arrive there you can look DOWN on your past situation and see how far you’ve come, how much you’ve grown, how much you’ve been promoted. And it can be applied to any area of life. A new position, a new home, a new ministry. In my case, a new state. God is an ever forward moving, progressive God! And our lives should be filled with the like! Scriptures say "I will lift up my eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help. My help comes from the Lord!" (Psalm 121:1-2). So, look up to God! Your help, your progression comes from ON HIGH! Forward and upward is the direction we need to be going in. Now I no longer desire to go back to NYC to live. In fact, I'm grateful to not be there. A visit every now and again is fine but I don't miss it. I'm in a place of promotion! I can see it now that I'm up on the mountain! God is establishing my family and I here in this new place and I am moving and looking forward to all the things He has in store!

   
   

   ~Dania Roberts