Letting Go of Old Stories
The Story Behind the Excuse
We don’t hold on to excuses because we’re weak—we hold on to them because they protect something. And most of the time, what they’re protecting isn’t the situation… it’s the narrative we’ve built around our lives.
Transformation sounds beautiful when we talk about it in church or read about it in Scripture. It feels inspiring, almost easy. But when it shows up in real life, it requires something a lot of us aren’t always ready for—it requires change. Not just surface change. Not just cleaning up behavior. It goes deeper than that. It reaches into how we think, how we see ourselves, and even how we’ve come to view God.
And that’s where it stops being comfortable—and starts getting real.
When God Starts Dealing With What’s Within
Because when you invite God into a situation, He doesn’t just deal with what’s happening around you—He starts dealing with what’s happening within you. He begins to confront the thoughts you’ve been replaying for years, the conclusions you’ve come to about your life, and the beliefs you didn’t even realize you formed about who you are, what you’re worth, and what you can really expect from our Heavenly Father.
And that’s the part we don’t always talk about, because it gets personal. It reaches into places we’ve learned to manage, places we’ve learned to protect. And if we’re honest, it requires a level of truth we’re not always quick to embrace.
Romans 12:2 (NLT) tells us, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” That kind of transformation isn’t casual. It reaches deep. It confronts patterns, and challenges what’s familiar. And if we’re honest, sometimes we’d rather manage life as it is than go through the process of having our thinking undone and rebuilt.
Because changing your thinking means you have to let go of the old story—the one that says, this is just how my life turned out, the one that convinces you, I’ve always been this way, and the one that thinks God let you down somewhere along the line, leaving you questioning whether He’s really going to come through for you the way you need.
And if we’re honest, that kind of thinking doesn’t just sit on the surface—it shapes how we move, how we expect, and how much of ourselves we’re willing to trust God with. So letting it go isn’t just about thinking different—it’s about trusting God in a deeper way than we have before.
We don’t always realize how much those narratives are shaping us. They sit underneath our decisions, underneath our responses, underneath the excuses we make to avoid going deeper with God. It’s easier to stay busy than to sit still and let Him challenge what we’ve believed for years.
But here’s the truth—God’s love doesn’t agree with the lies we’ve learned to live with.
Choosing Truth Over What Feels Familiar
John 8:32 (NLT) says, “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Not the version of truth we’ve become comfortable with. Not the story we’ve rehearsed. But His truth—the one that corrects, restores, and realigns everything that’s been off.
And that’s where the tension comes in. Because freedom sounds good… but it requires us to release what’s been familiar. It requires us to let God rewrite things we’ve already settled in our minds. And that can feel uncomfortable, even unsettling, because it shifts the ground we’ve been standing on.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT) reminds us, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” But walking in that “new life” isn’t automatic—it requires agreement. It requires us to line up our thinking with what God says is true, even when it contradicts what we’ve always believed.
And that’s why we make excuses. Not because we don’t want God… but because we don’t always want the process that comes with fully letting Him in.
Because when He steps in, He doesn’t just comfort you—He transforms you. He begins to dismantle the lies, correct the misconceptions, and rebuild your understanding of His love in a way that’s deeper, stronger, and more true than anything you’ve known before.
That kind of work requires surrender. It requires you to say, “Lord, I’ve been seeing this wrong. I’ve been believing this wrong. I’ve been telling myself a story that doesn’t line up with Your truth.” That’s not easy, but it’s necessary.
Because the same God who calls you out of the ashes in Isaiah 61 is the same God who reshapes your thinking so you can actually live like the woman He says you are—strong, rooted, and established in Him.
The excuses may feel easier in the moment, but they will always keep you in the same place. Truth, on the other hand, may stretch you, but it will move you forward into freedom. And Sister in Christ, freedom is worth the change. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Why We Hold on to the Excuse”, written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2026. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to encouraging and inspiring Christian Women to live boldly through God’s Word.
