Rear View Mirror

Rear view mirror. Driving just under 700 miles twice this past week, through sun and rain and snow, had me spending a lot of my time looking in the rear view mirror of the car. Driving in bad conditions like rain and snow makes you concentrate on what is going on behind you for safety reasons. You never know when you might have to change lanes quickly to avoid something or slow down quickly because of stopped traffic, and knowing where cars behind you are located is important. It’s just as important to know what’s going on behind you as it is to know what is going on in front of you.

I’ve heard it mentioned that the front windshield is so much larger than the rear view mirror because where you are going is more important than where you have been. That statement is mostly true, but our past experiences are important in making our future decisions. Our past failures and successes help us make better decisions on our future. But we should not spend too much time worrying about the things in our rear view mirror, we should learn from them and move on.

“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead” - Philippians 3:13. The Apostle Paul stated that he forgot what was already behind him (his past failures) and instead continued to strive toward those things that God had prepared for him that lie ahead. If anyone could have looked back on his life and regretted some of the things he had done, it was Paul. However, he left them behind and pressed forward.

Are there things in your rear view mirror that are keeping you from moving forward into the things that God has already prepared for you?  Do you keep looking back instead of looking forward?  Take the example of Paul, forget those things and move forward toward the prize. God has great things planned for you through the front windshield of life. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” - Ephesians 2:10.

Have a great day and God bless.