Letting go of the familiar

Genesis 19:1 – 26

Letting go of the familiar is tough. Changing careers or colleges or moving to a new city can take an emotional toll on us. It’s even more difficult to leave behind old habits, attitudes and behaviours.
Lots wife wasn’t able to let go of her home in Sodom, even though God sent angels to warn her family to run for their lives because judgment was coming. In fact, the angels warning included grave commands of “Don’t look back” and “Don’t stop”. Why in the world did this woman chose to stop and look back? Could it be that she loved the life she was leaving too much? Though Sodom was full to overflowing with sin and vice, apparently the dark and oppressive city was comfortably familiar to Lot’s wife.
It is difficult to leave the familiar behind. The fact is as true today as it was in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah’s destruction – even when God himself is saying, “It’s time to move on.” If you’ve ever struggled with a destructive habit, you’ve felt the pull of the familiar. You’ve experienced the temptation to turn back just one more time, for one last look, one last taste – even as God whispered “Don’t look back.”
Unlike Lot’s wife, none of us has turned into a pillar of salt by turning back for one last peek. Yet we all struggle with the difficulties of letting go of the old in order to grasp the new. Take heart. God understands that letting go of the familiar is hard. Yet he has called us to move on to a new life in Jesus Christ by letting go of our worldly lives, our old habits, our old dreams – to boldly move forward without looking back. When you feel God’s call to move, allow him to guide you. He will give you the grace to do whatever he has asked.