Let Go of Your Past: Dropping Your Hindrances, Being Transformed, and Standing Strongનમૂનો

Five Questions to Help You Get Started

Our response to the need for metamorphosis, whether that metamorphosis is a result of gradual shifts or sudden changes that come in unrelenting waves, will have the greatest impact on how we learn to stand strong in the midst of both crises and the natural rhythms of life. How do we begin the process of responding well to metamorphosis and letting go of the past? Here are five questions you can answer that will help you get the process started:

1. What is your moon shot?

Often, in a season of metamorphosis, our prior moon shot (that is, our overarching goal or purpose) needs to be changed or at least modified. As we have seen, we can waste a lot of time and energy trying to accomplish something that was necessary in the caterpillar season but is currently either impossible or irrelevant in the new butterfly pilgrimage of our divine purpose. Consequently, it’s paramount that we reexamine our overarching purpose before we waste our energy on finding a new process.

2. What are the “boosters” of your life that were important to your previous success but have lost their purpose in the light of this new epoch metamorphosis?

As I pointed out earlier, this type of change can involve a very painful process in which a loyalty to methods, memories, or manpower can blind us to the truth of how to move forward, a truth that’s often hiding in plain sight. But the pain of letting go of the past must be measured against the costs of missing our purpose in God. Furthermore, not only will our inaction affect our present condition, but the future purpose of the coming generations will also be undermined and/or derailed. We simply must not allow this to happen.

3. Which wise people can help you navigate this new metamorphosis?

Solomon said, “In abundance of counselors there is victory” (Proverbs 24:6), but those “counselors” must be chosen prayerfully and carefully; otherwise, the outcome will be skewed. It’s important to hear from a variety of perspectives so that every possible dynamic is represented well and listened to. But there are certain people whose opinion is so predictively negative that they can completely paralyze the process. Therefore, be sure to use discernment.

4. How should the structure you live in change to facilitate the destiny of your new season?

The structure that you live and work in is paramount to your success as a believer. The structure should first be specifically designed by evaluating your strengths and weaknesses and the season you are living in, and then developed and deployed to cover your weaknesses and empower your strengths.

Let me share a great analogy with you that I’ve used for years to help illustrate how wise structures affect our productivity and thus determine our level of success. A smart contractor in my city of Redding built a new building for Shasta College, a local community college. When he finished the facility, he planted a lawn all the way around the building. A year later, he built sidewalks where the faculty and students had worn out the lawn in their treks to and from classes, dorms, and other areas of community life. In this way, the sidewalks facilitated the destiny of the faculty and students.

This is a beautiful illustration of the important impact that structures have on the efficiency and effectiveness of our life. You can have the fastest car in the world, but if there are no paved roads to your ultimate destination, your journey will probably be slow at best and treacherous at worst. If you are stuck in an antiquated structure designed for “caterpillars” and not for “butterflies,” there’s likely not going to be much “high flying” going on in your life!

5. What needs to change in you to reach your destiny and fulfill your purpose?

Maybe the toughest part of going into an epoch metamorphosis is not what is happening around you but what needs to happen within you. In fact, the kingdom within you actually manifests around you…not the other way around. Therefore, the most important and dynamic catalyst of change is you! Change, especially radical change, can be incredibly difficult. To make things even more challenging, you can’t become what you haven’t already seen and heard, and there are often few, if any, people modeling the kind of inner transformation necessary to bust out of the stale mold of past-present thinking. Furthermore, if the thing that needs to be overhauled or let go of in your life is the place where you have prospered in a former epoch season, it’s tough to convince yourself to shed it.

My friend Banning Liebscher, the founding pastor of Jesus Culture, says, “The difference between people who do something and people who don’t is that people who do something, do something!” Procrastination is the assassination of revelation. I know that sounds like a line from a rap song, but it’s true. We can think about change, analyze it, and research it, but nothing is going to change until we do something about it. We must move forward, whether we take baby steps or elephant steps. But whatever we do, we have to find the grit to step past our fear of the unknown and make progress every day.

What are your answers to these five questions? What can you do today to begin to move forward?

Thought: The pain of letting go of the past must be measured against the costs of missing our purpose in God.

Prayer: Lord, help me take concrete steps to respond to the call of metamorphosis. I want to honestly evaluate my life, align with the mindset, people, and resources I need, and release the past so I can step fully into this new season.