Most of us entered the new year ready to put 2020 behind us. Yet, we have a strange way of carrying the old into the new — even when we dislike the old. As it turns out, letting go of yesterday isn’t always easy.

So, how do we release the pain, shame, and trauma of the past? The Exodus story offers some valuable insights.

The Israelites had been slaves for 400 years in Egypt, and the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly. Under this hard labor, the Israelites cried out to God for help.

God raised up Moses to deliver the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery. However, the Israelites kept looking backward. Although they left Egypt, they took a piece of Egypt with them. It seems they couldn’t — or wouldn’t — let go of yesterday. From their lives, we can glean four keys to releasing the past:

1. Embrace a New Identity

Shortly after the Israelites fled Egypt, Pharaoh demanded his army hunt them down and make them return. As Pharaoh’s army approached, the Israelites began to panic: “What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” (Exodus 14:11–12, emphasis added).

Even though God delivered the Israelites from slavery, they still viewed themselves as slaves. In other words, their captivity was more than a physical condition; it was part of their identity.

The same thing can happen to us. We can get so used to yesterday’s circumstances that they become a part of today’s identity. That’s why letting go of yesterday begins with recognizing who we are in Christ.

It starts with acknowledging your identity. And according to Scripture, your name is no longer “slave.” Your name is “new.” The apostle Paul said, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

2. Envision a Better Future

Letting go of yesterday is not just about what you’re leaving. It’s also about where you’re going. When the Israelites left Egypt, they had a destination — the land God had promised.

After Moses sent 12 spies to explore the land of Canaan, they returned 40 days later and said, “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit” (Numbers 13:27).

God doesn’t want your yesterday to control your today. He wants you to catch a vision of a better future. And once you catch that vision, you need to hold onto it and believe it is possible.

That’s what the 1983 Australian crew team did when they won the America’s Cup after a 132-year losing streak. Skipper Mike Fletch knew he had to help the Australian team envision a better future and embrace a narrative that winning was actually possible. So, Fletch made a recording of a sailboat cutting through the water, and he added narration of their team winning the race.

Letting go of yesterday begins with recognizing who we are in Christ.

Fletch gave team members instructions to listen to the recording twice every day. And that’s what they did for the next three years. After winning the race in their minds 2,190 times, they actually pulled it off. The crew set sail in San Diego harbor with a vision of a better future, convinced it was possible. They won with a 41-second margin of victory.

If your yesterdays are haunting your todays, ask God to give you a vision for a better future and faith to get you across the finish line.

3. Enlarge Your Perspective

Even though God had a better future for the Israelites, 10 of the 12 spies had the wrong perspective. Immediately after describing the bountiful beauty of Canaan, they said this to Moses and the people:

The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. … We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them (Numbers 13:32–33).

After hearing this discouraging report, the people were ready to return to Egypt. They said, “Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt? … We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

If you don’t learn the lessons of Egypt, you’ll give yourself permission to return to a life of slavery. The only way to learn the lessons is to search them out. I know that sounds counterintuitive. Who wants to search for a lesson in the middle of our loathing? Who wants to seek out insight in the middle of pain and hardship? Nobody wants to do that, but the wise choose to do it anyway. It starts with the right perspective.

4. Establish New Habits

Because of the Israelites’ failure to trust God and step into the Promised land, they spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness. They were no longer slaves to Egypt, but their disobedience made them slaves to the wilderness.

As you follow the Israelites’ journey in the wilderness, you discover that they had a habit of letting their minds and hearts drift back to Egypt. In Numbers 11, the Israelites started reminiscing about their life of slavery (even after God had miraculously provided manna to eat).

The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost — also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!” (Numbers 11:4–6).

What was the Israelites’ habit? They craved Egypt. They remembered the free food, while overlooking the fact that they weren’t free. If you’re going to let go of yesterday, you have to let go of yesterday’s habits and replace them with new habits to reinforce your new identity.

Habits determine your heath, and you can’t create a healthy life today with the unhealthy habits of yesterday. As John Maxwell observes, “People don’t determine their future. They determine their habits, which determine their future.”

Each of these four steps play an important role in letting go of yesterday. These steps are not easy, and they won’t feel natural. But they’ll help you see and do what’s necessary to let go of yesterday and live freely today and in the future.