Desperate for Hope | Christine Caine

Don’t Look Back

Scripture References

Primary text

• Luke 17:20
• Luke 17:32

Other references

• Genesis 13:12-15
• Genesis 19:17
• Genesis 19:26
• Ezekiel 16:49-50
• Luke 24:21
• Zechariah 9:12

Overview

In a world swirling with wars, pandemics, moral confusion, and economic upheaval, followers of Jesus can feel disoriented or stuck. Drawing from Jesus’ warning to “remember Lot’s wife,” Christine Caine urges the church to stop longing for “the way things were,” anchor our hope in Christ, and move boldly into God’s future. Because Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, we can forget what lies behind, strain toward what is ahead, and press on into our calling—today.

Context

• Christine greets Life.Church as “home,” thanks them for partnering with A21, and reports recent rescues of trafficking victims.
• She notes the global turbulence of the last four years—pandemics, wars, natural disasters, social division—and how many believers say, “I wish things would go back to normal.”
• The message flows from her new book “Don’t Look Back.”

Main Points

1. Living in the “already and not yet”

• Jesus taught that the Kingdom is present now yet not fully realized; followers should live as if He could return tomorrow while planning as if generations remain.
• Attempts to predict exact end-times dates waste time:
  • Quote: “After four years of study my end-time theology is this—no one knows.”

2. Three forgotten words: “Remember Lot’s wife”

• Out of 170 women mentioned in Scripture, Jesus singles out only Lot’s wife to “remember,” and He does so in an end-times passage (Luke 17).
• She is nameless—known only for looking back with longing and turning into a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26).
• Looking back revealed a heart still attached to what God had finished with; the result was permanent paralysis.
• Our backward focus can calcify not only us but the next generation.

3. Why God judged Sodom—and what that warns us about today

• Ezekiel 16:49-50 lists pride, comfortable security, neglect of the poor, and detestable practices as Sodom’s core sins—not merely sexual immorality.
• When churches drift into arrogance and indifference to need, they resemble Sodom more than Jesus’ Kingdom.

4. Stuck in the aftershock

• Common post-pandemic refrain: “Before Covid…” We have handed over the BC/AD dividing line to a virus instead of to Christ.
• Disappointment blinds us to Jesus’ presence—like the Emmaus disciples (Luke 24:21).
• Misplaced hopes in people, systems, or circumstances always disappoint; only hope anchored in Jesus holds (Hebrews 6 alluded to).

5. Becoming “prisoners of hope” (Zechariah 9:12)

• God chooses our times; we are products of eternity placed in time for mission.
• Anchor identity and joy in Christ, not in political, economic, or cultural stability.
• Story: Christine’s own past—abandonment, abuse, poverty—proves that what Jesus did for us is greater than what anyone did to us.

6. Forget, strain, press (Philippians scene)

• Paul’s three-step posture:
  1. Forgetting what lies behind—refusing to let past success or trauma define the future.
  2. Straining toward what is ahead—re-engaging dormant faith muscles; apathy must be resisted.
  3. Pressing on—exerting a steady force against complacency, offense, lust, greed, or fear.
• Illustration: In a hotel lobby a guest cursed at an elevator that never arrived; Christine simply stepped forward and pressed the button—“Church, it’s time to press the button.”

Key Truths

• Longing for yesterday can paralyze today’s obedience and tomorrow’s destiny.
• Hope misplaced in anything but Jesus will inevitably disappoint.
• God’s purpose, promise, and provision are always ahead, never behind.
• Followers of Jesus are called to be prisoners of hope, not victims of circumstance.
• Pressing on requires active resistance to apathy, bitterness, and entitlement.

Response

• Release every nostalgic grip on “the way things were.”
• Anchor your soul to Christ, declaring Him your unshakable hope.
• Identify one area where you feel stuck and “press the button” by taking a concrete faith step this week.
• Serve the poor and the needy—refuse the pride and comfortable security that marked Sodom.
• Exercise spiritual disciplines that strain faith muscles: prayer, Scripture, generosity, witness.

Closing

The world may feel upside-down, but nothing essential has changed for the people of God—our mission, power, and hope are the same. Jesus still saves, heals, and sends. Let go of yesterday’s disappointments, fix your eyes forward, and step into the work He has prepared for you.

“It’s time to press the button and get moving into the purpose and the promise God has for you.”

Resources

• Christine Caine, “Don’t Look Back” (book featured in this series)