Stop Staring

"Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past." Isaiah 43:18

      I reach up and adjust the rearview mirror on the PT Cruiser and I remember a Facebook post by a friend almost a year ago. If I remember correctly, he was venting about the way he'd been treated, but a friend admonished him to stop looking in the rearview mirror. I had to disagree with the friend. 
     Rearview mirrors have their place. No, we are not to dwell on what we see and that is why they are smaller than the windshield. (I took the picture of the smallest rearview mirror I've ever seen at a car show.) Still they serve a purpose when it comes to safety as we take a quick glance before backing out of the driveway. 

     In life we are not to dwell on the past. Still I believe we need to look back to find the lesson in what lay behind and search for the triumph in the tragedy. Then as we turn our focus back to the road ahead it is our job to carry the message that comes out of the mess. At the time my friend was just processing but I'm trusting he'll find the message.

     Then there are days like today when the rearview mirror is all you have. I am drafting this post on the anniversary of my father's passing. It's not that there is no future in this relationship because there is in Heaven ... someday. But for the last 31 years the only way I could see him is by looking back.
     There's no mess, no tragedy, and what lay behind are pleasant memories. I do not dwell on my childhood memories but once in a while I reach up and adjust a mirror that is sticky from the syrup on silver dollar pancakes, smells of old leather, and sparkles like the stars in the sky.

     The Isaiah passage goes on to talk about how God is going to do a new thing for His people. That new thing lies up ahead. God, wanting what's best for us, wants us to look ahead, focus on the bigger picture. He doesn't want us to glamorize the past because it devalues the present. 

     The beautiful thing about trusting God is that those cherished memories in the rearview mirror are safe, the message is safe, and the future, which will one day be in that little piece of reflective glass is safe as well.
     That's what rearview mirrors are for--safety. Just make sure you're glancing, not staring.