Journey into Lightl

Do you cling to your past? If you are honest with yourself, you will probably answer “yes.”

A person said to me recently, “I would rather face something known, no matter how many times it has beaten me.”  In his mind, he would rather face the hell he knows, rather than the hell he does not know.

How sad! How limiting! How true it is about us!

I see this tendency in me. In the last year, God has led me to another church home that is a much better fit for the direction that he has been taking me in.

But I want to cling to the church of my past.  I want to stay in the traditions, habits and memories of the past thirty-one years.

But God says, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). He does not want us clinging to our churches of the past. Nor, does he want us clinging to our habits of the past.

God has called us to change. He wants us to stop clinging to the old ways and learn new ways (Ephesians 4:22-24). He wants us to be a disciple. He wants us to be a learner of his ways.

God wants to take us on an exciting adventure of change. “I am the Good Shepherd. Surely goodness and love will follow you all the days of your life” (Psalm 23). Following God is not hell. It is growing in the experience of his love and power.

Yet, we cling to the past. We do not want to take the chance. We cling to the lowlands instead of choosing to soar with the eagles.

Consequently, we fail to please God. “And without faith it is impossible to please him” (Hebrews 11:6). We fail to accept the fact that he will reward us for refusing to cling to the past. We fail to embrace the rewarding future he offers us.

Look what happened to Israel. They wanted to cling to the past. They refused to embrace the exciting and rewarding life God had for them in the Promised Land. They stayed in the lowlands and died (Numbers 14:26-30).

But what can we do to stop clinging to our past ways? How we can embrace the abundant life that God has for us (John 10:10)?

Fortunately, God does not require much from us to take us on this exciting and fulfilling adventure. We just need to take one step at a time in the direction that he is leading (Psalm 32:8).

As you struggle with letting go and letting God, talk to him about it. Even pour out your heart to him about how hard it is (Psalm 62:8).

Ask God to show you one thing from your past that you are clinging to. Give him that thing and ask him to replace it with something new.