You're Not Going Back: Why 2026 Is Your Year to Move Forward

There's a moment in everyone's journey where the past starts calling you back. Maybe it's a relationship you know wasn't healthy. An old habit you thought you'd kicked. A city you left for good reasons. Or even just a version of yourself you promised you'd outgrow.

The pull is magnetic. Familiar. And sometimes, it feels easier to turn around than to keep pushing forward into the unknown.

At Courageous Church this past Sunday, Pastor Dave unpacked one of the most powerful moments in the Exodus story—when the Israelites stood between Pharaoh's army and the Red Sea, paralyzed by fear and begging Moses to take them back to Egypt. Back to slavery. Back to certainty.

It sounds crazy, right? Who would choose slavery over freedom?

But here's the uncomfortable truth: we do it all the time.

**Your Brain Is Wired to Go Back**

Modern neuroscience reveals something the Bible has been teaching for thousands of years: our brains prefer predictability over everything else. Even when something is painful, if it's familiar, we'll gravitate toward it. Scientists call this "rosy retrospection"—our tendency to remember the past as better than it actually was.

The Israelites didn't really want to go back to slavery. They wanted to go back to certainty. To control. To familiarity. And in moments of crisis, our brains do the same thing—reconstructing memories to make the past look safer than the future.

**The Moment That Changes Everything**

When Moses cried out to God, expecting divine intervention while the people stood still, God's response was shocking: "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on."

The sea wouldn't part while they stood still. God had already gone before them, but the breakthrough required them to take a step. To pack up. To refuse to go back.

Pastor Dave put it this way: "The past matters—you were meant to learn from it. But you cannot live in it."

**Three Keys to Moving Forward**

If you're ready to make 2026 a year of genuine transformation, here's what it takes:

**1. Let go of the need to understand it all now.** Some answers won't come until you're on the other side. Waiting for certainty will keep you stuck. Trust has to be enough.

**2. Let go of the shame trying to define you.** There's a difference between guilt and shame. Guilt says, "I did something wrong." Shame says, "I am something wrong." You need to feel guilt—it leads to growth. But you don't need to live in shame. You are not what you've done, and you're not what was done to you.

**3. Spend more time with the One calling you forward.** Real transformation doesn't come from willpower or positive thinking. It comes from spending time with God—not just thinking about Him, but actually encountering Him. When you do, He'll give you peace about what you don't understand, reframe how you see yourself, and empower you to part seas.

**Your Move**

Maybe today is your line-in-the-sand moment. Maybe it's time to burn the boats, throw out the backup plan, and commit to never going back.

God isn't more interested in your past than your future. He's already gone ahead of you. The question is: will you move on?

Because this year, you're not going back.