I once heard a pastor speak on a book he'd written entitled, The Windshield Is Bigger Than The Rearview Mirror. He details his moral failure in both his marriage and ministry. He doesn't minimize or excuse his sin, but his emphasis is not on his failure, but on restoration. The restoration of both his marriage and ministry. Failure was not final. His life wasn't held by what appeared in his "rearview mirror," but rather in the view the Father had for him in the "windshield" He placed before Him. He seeks to do the same for us.
How many right now are moving through their life with their eyes fixed upon the rearview mirror of their past? Rearview mirrors are essential in keeping us aware of what's behind us, but if our focus is there, we will surely invite disaster by our being ill-prepared for what lies ahead. In the same way, if we're held by always looking at what has been, at what we've been and done, we'll never enter into what He has for us and invited us to.
It's not that our pasts have never happened. The fact is too many try to deal with the past by trying to bury it. Somehow though, it always finds a way to crawl out of the grave we've dug for it, and usually in destructive ways. We need to face our past at the cross. At the cross, He dealt with our past, our sin, our wounds, and our failures. Colossians 2:12 says that God nailed all of that to Christ's cross. ALL of it. On the cross, Christ canceled our sin and all the failures and wounds that come with it. Their power is broken, canceled. The work has been done at the cross.....but has it been done in you?
It's not that our pasts have never happened. The fact is too many try to deal with the past by trying to bury it. Somehow though, it always finds a way to crawl out of the grave we've dug for it, and usually in destructive ways. We need to face our past at the cross. At the cross, He dealt with our past, our sin, our wounds, and our failures. Colossians 2:12 says that God nailed all of that to Christ's cross. ALL of it. On the cross, Christ canceled our sin and all the failures and wounds that come with it. Their power is broken, canceled. The work has been done at the cross.....but has it been done in you?
The quality of our lives comes down to what we believe, think, and the attitudes we have. Many may believe upon His name, but never really come to believe in and upon His Word. Someone said that we act out of what we believe to be true. What do you believe to be true about you, about Him, about your life and its possibilities in Jesus Christ? Ephesians 4:23 says, "There must be a renewal of your thoughts and attitudes." This is a work that can only be done through His Holy Spirit and knowing that His Word is a healing Word. A Living Word bringing true life. A Word that sets us free from the captivity of the rearview mirror. A Word that brings us to the wide open vistas of the abundant life of Christ.
How are you living out your journey today? Are your eyes locked on that tiny rearview mirror, holding all the past with all its wounds, failures, sins, and lies? The lie that what lies ahead will only be a repeat of what has gone before. Or, have you received His Living Word and its truth, found only in the Kingdom windshield He's placed before you? It's true that Christ redeems all that lies behind us, but what has been is not where He dwells. He dwells and lives in the hearts of His people. He is with us right now and yet is already there at what lies ahead, leading us into His new day. The windshield really is bigger than the rearview mirror, isn't it?
Blessings,
Pastor O
How are you living out your journey today? Are your eyes locked on that tiny rearview mirror, holding all the past with all its wounds, failures, sins, and lies? The lie that what lies ahead will only be a repeat of what has gone before. Or, have you received His Living Word and its truth, found only in the Kingdom windshield He's placed before you? It's true that Christ redeems all that lies behind us, but what has been is not where He dwells. He dwells and lives in the hearts of His people. He is with us right now and yet is already there at what lies ahead, leading us into His new day. The windshield really is bigger than the rearview mirror, isn't it?
Blessings,
Pastor O
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