The Windshield is Bigger Than the Side View Mirror!

The phrase “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear” is a safety warning that is required to be engraved on side view mirrors of motor vehicles in the USA, India, Canada and Australia. Since smaller-appearing objects seem farther away than they actually are, a driver might make a lane change assuming an adjacent vehicle is a safe distance behind, when in fact it is quite a bit closer. While this warning serves as a reminder to the driver of this potential problem; for the Child of God, this phrase ought to be a reminder that your blessings are closer than they appear. God wants you to live in hope!

Here is God’s wonderful promise for you “I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” Jeremiah 29:11.

This prophecy was directed at God’s people as they were being dragged in chains to captivity as a consequence for a long period of chronic disobedience against Almighty God. They would languish in Babylon for 70 years. Yet, even in the darkest days of their history, God told them something extremely important: “I still have a future for you”.

My good friend, in this life you will go through disappointments and failure. But you see, after any event that brings wounding, regret, hurt, and guilt – there ought to come a time when you must decide to survive.  The only way to shake off the dust and move forward is to lift your head and choose to believe that God truly is not finished with you. You must look at life through the windshield of faith and hope, rather than through the side view mirror of disappointment and discouragement. There is a future beyond failure, heartbreak, bitter experiences and anything else that chains you to your past. As much as even earthly parents have a future for our children, even so, God, your heavenly Father has a wonderful, delightful future for you.

Too often we forget the guarantee we have in the blood of JESUS. Romans 8:32 tells us: “God didn’t spare his own Son but handed Him over to death for all of us. So, He will also give us everything along with Him” (GW).  My friend, don’t lose sight of the fact that “if God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31, NIV).

You see, God wants you to face life with HOPE. He wants you to change your focus from the past to one of promise. Rather than focusing on the events of the past – the disappointments, the hurts – God wants you to go through life with an open mind and an open heart– gazing through the windshield –ready to take on new challenges and opportunities that He would bring your way. If you keep staring at the road-kill in the side view mirror, how would you ever get to the destination where the road ahead is leading you?

My friend, never allow your outlook in life to be frozen in the side view mirror, perhaps to an event back there that has you chained; a memory that has long gone and yet has cuffed you and paralyzed you from living life with hope and strong ambition. Like Lot’s wife who looked back at Sodom and Gomorrah only to become a pillar of salt, do not allow the events of the past to paralyze you from moving forward into God’s purpose for your life. This is why David testified: “I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Psalm 27:14 (NKJV).

Jesus offers you deliverance from your unhealthy “rear view” focus to a forward-looking focus filled with His promises and purposes. Believe that God is not finished with you and that good things are coming your way.

HERE ARE 5 STEPS TO GET YOU LIVING IN YOUR GOD-APPOINTED DESTINY:

1. Decide that the past has passed and that you are going to move forward

“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 3: 13-14, NIV

2. If sin was involved, confess every bit of it to God, and seek God’s strength to turn completely away from it

“If we confess our sins, He will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right. He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done.” I John 1:9, NCV

3. Take responsibility for your actions. Make things right to the extent possible

“I have sinned . . . so that I have become a burden to myself” Job 7:20 (KJV).

4. Fill your mind and heart daily with God’s word. God word brings inner healing, and strengthens faith

“The teachings of the Lord are perfect; they give new strength. The rules of the Lord can be trusted; they make plain people wise. The orders of the Lord are right; they make people happy. The commands of the Lord are pure; they light up the way” Psalm 19: 7-8 (NCV)

5. Expect God’s mercy to show up in unexpected ways in your life

“The Lord’s love never ends; His mercies never stop.  They are new every morning; Lord, your loyalty is great. I say to myself, “The Lord is mine, so I hope in Him” Lamentations 3; 22-24 (NCV).

The God who created you calls you out of your past into a brand-new day!  He says, “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? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland” Isaiah 43:18-19.

I encourage you to face today in the strength and wisdom of our God who promises to go with you always! Live in HOPE!

Shalom!

Mike Prah