By: Joel Ramirez
We’ve all heard the driving adage: “It is impossible to drive when you only look at the rearview mirror. There is more windshield than rearview mirror for a reason.” It’s a simple truth with profound spiritual implications. Yes, we need to know what’s behind us. Glancing in the rearview mirror prevents accidents and keeps us aware of our surroundings. But our primary focus must remain on the road ahead. In the Christian life, this principle takes on an eternal significance. Scripture gives us a striking warning about the peril of the fixation on the past. When God delivered Lot and his family from the destruction of Sodom, He gave them explicit instructions, flee and do not look back. But Lot’s wife couldn’t resist. She turned her gaze at the burning city behind her, and in that moment of disobedient nostalgia, she became a pillar of salt, Genesis 19: 26. Her story isn’t just about physical destruction, it symbolizes what happens when our hearts remain tethered to what God has already judged and moved beyond. She was so consumed by what she was losing that she lost her very life. The Israelites wandering in the wilderness provide another sobering example. Freed from Egyptian slavery by God’s mighty hand, they continually looked back, forgetting the difficulties they had endured. When hardship came in the desert, they groaned. In Numbers 11:6, they voice “We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost, also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna.” They had forgotten the brutality of their bondage, the murder of their infant sons, the relentless labor under Pharaoh’s whip. Their rearview mirror had become distorted, filtering out pain and magnifying comfort. Because they could not trust in God to lead them into the Promised Land, that generation perished in the desert, never reaching their destination. Even Jesus’s own disciples struggled with this tension. In Matthew 4:18 reads “Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon was called Peter, and Andrew his brothers, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen”. After the resurrection and Jesus’s appearances, Peter announced in John 21:3 “I am going fishing”. Many disciples joined him. This was not recreational and likely Peter was returning to his old livelihood, retreating to familiar territory when the path forward seemed uncertain. Jesus found them there, unsuccessfully fishing through the night, and graciously redirected them. His threefold restoration of Peter in John 21:15-17, “Do you love Me? Feed My sheep“ reorients Peter from past failure and a former occupation towards his future purpose. Christ’s resurrection demanded a forward-facing faith for the work that was ahead. Paul gives us a great example of a forward-facing faith. If anyone had cause to dwell in the rearview mirror, it was Saul of Tarsus. He had persecuted the church, imprisoned Christians, and approved of the murder of Stephen. His past was filled with religious arrogance and violent opposition to Christ. Yet after his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, Paul’s perspective shifted. When we look at Paul’s words in Philippians 3:7-8 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things.” Paul doesn’t deny his past and recounts his credential as a Pharisee, his zeal and his pedigree, but refuses to let it define his identity or his direction. In Philippians 3: 13-14 Paul says “Brethern, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Notice that “forgetting” here doesn’t mean suppressing his memory but means refusing to let the past control his focus. Paul keeps his focus on the finish line, knowing the prize isn’t earthly achievement, but the glory of heavenly salvation. Scripture repeatedly commands Israel to remember God’s faithfulness and we as Christians are commanded to remember and keep the Lord’s Supper with the words “Do this in remembrance of Me”. We must make the distinction to remember God’s faithfulness and learn from past failures, but we do not pitch our tents in the past. The rearview mirror serves its purpose to provide perspective, warn of blind spots and remind us of the grace we have received. In Isaiah 43:18-19, God warns the people through His prophet “Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it?” God Himself is moving forward, leading His people toward renewal and restoration. So, our focus should be on what fills our windshield. We should strive to live a forward focused life. The Holy Spirit gives us these examples of moving forward while looking back as a guide. The rearview mirror has its place and we should glance at it and learn from it, always giving thanks for the grace that covers it. But fix your eyes on the expansive windshield before you. The road leads through valleys and mountains as well as deserts and green pastures, but its destination is sure. We march towards the endless presence of God. Revelation 21:2-4, God reveals to us through His servant John “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; and there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” So, keep driving, saints, the best is yet to come.