When Familiar Starts to Hurt

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?" - Isaiah 43:18-19

Let’s be real, letting go is hard. Walking away from the things we’ve chased for years, the patterns we know, the comforts we’ve clung to, feels like too much sometimes. Even when those things leave us empty or broken, there’s a pull to keep going back. Because it’s familiar. And familiar feels safe, even when it’s hurting us.

The woman at the well kept returning to what she knew, relationship after relationship, because that’s where she thought her worth could be found. But at some point, the familiar became painful. It wasn’t working anymore. That’s where many of us find ourselves, too. We keep chasing things: success, approval, comfort, pleasure, only to end up dry and frustrated. And still, we hesitate to let go because we are scared of the unknown.

But real change happens when the pain of staying the same becomes heavier than the pain of change. You have to hit a point where you say, I cannot keep living like this. That’s when your heart becomes ready for something new. That’s when you stop settling for surface-level satisfaction and start craving something deeper.

When you hit that crossroads, you have two choices. You can stay on the familiar path, the one you already know will leave you stuck, hurt, and empty. Or you can choose the new path: Jesus, the living water. He promises to fill you in a way nothing else can, but there is a warning: it won’t always be easy. Leaving behind what’s familiar, even when it’s broken, is tough.

But it’s necessary. If you want real, lasting satisfaction, you cannot keep going back to the old wells. You have to walk away from what’s comfortable and step into the new thing God wants to do in your life.

So be honest with yourself. What’s the thing you keep going back to? Is it still serving you, or has the familiar started to hurt? If it has, don’t ignore that pain. Let it push you toward real change. Step away from what’s empty. Choose the living water. It may not be easy, but it will be worth it.