A few Christmases ago, hubby, our daughter, and I flew to the Southwest desert for a “sun break” the week after Christmas. Evidently, we took the clouds with us, because the sun did not shine the entire time we were there. (Ha!)
With it being the week after Christmas, all the normal rental cars were in use and the only rental vehicle available was a big Dodge Ram pickup truck. Hubby and I have never owned a truck, nor have we ever driven a rental pickup truck. That thing was huge!
Hubby and our daughter sat in the front cab, but I preferred the second row. That way, as we toured around through the desert landscape, I could turn around and take photos out the large rear window.
I was particularly delighted to be able to capture this photo looking back out the rear window of the truck, as we drove up a steep hillside.
This photo parallels in many ways to my experience this past week of “looking back” at all the old slides of all the wedding photos of the cute young couples from the 1960’s.
The above photo, looking back out the rear window as we drove through Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, has an amazing view! Who wouldn’t want to look back!
Looking back at old photos from a time before you were born is almost like time travel … it’s like stepping into a completely different world!
Our world today is completely different! It almost messes with your mind to step back into a world which used to be but no longer exists.
When it comes to life itself, it’s tempting to “look back.” Looking back, we remember how wonderful it used to be. (while simultaneously forgetting how incredibly hard it was at the same time!) The fond memories stand out like highlights … similar to the incredible view looking back out the rear window of the truck.
But we can’t “drive through life” looking back. Sure, I was able to take photos out the rear window of the truck looking back, because hubby was driving.
But when it comes to our own personal journey through life, we are the ones at the steering wheel of our own life. We are the ones tasked with keeping our eyes on the road.
If we have our head turned around and are focused on looking back, we can’t see where we need to go … we can’t see where God has planned and purposed for us to go. We’ll obviously run off the road.
Here you can see that the rear window of the truck isn’t a clear view because the glass is covered in spots … there are no windshield wipers on the rear window.
So too, when it comes to our journey “driving through life” we don’t have windshield wipers looking out the back. The windshield wipers are on the front, to provide a clear view for us to see where we are going … forward.
Ahhh … here we go … looking out the front.
Notice, the rear-view mirror is quite small compared to the front windshield, which is very large.
It’s not that we shouldn’t “look back” at all. It’s important to “look back” to see where we came from … this informs us how we got where we are today. It informs us as to why we are the way we are. It informs us as to the things which have shaped us into the person we are today.
It’s important to glance back every now and then. Glancing back in the rearview mirror helps us understand our past, which will help us in our journey going forward.
Looking forward …
There is uncertainty when we look forward. The road bends and curves … we can’t see the “road of life” in its entirety.
This is where faith comes in.
This is where trust comes in.
The presence of God is with me … right here, right now on this stretch of life’s journey.
By faith, I trust that the presence of God will be with me, helping me as I travel the stretch of life’s journey around the bend in the road where I can’t see.
It’s important to look forward, not back, as we travel life’s road … but we can’t look too far forward.
Here in this photo, you can see that the road goes down through a dip … then up over a hill … then disappears …
If we look too far forward, we will wind up worrying about the “dip in life’s road” that’s coming up! We’ll worry about that “hill” up ahead that we have to climb! If we look too far forward, we’ll worry about things that haven’t even come yet. And which may not even come at all.
On our journey through life, we are traveling far … but we’re not looking far. We’re focusing on this stretch of life right here, right now. Whoa … isn’t that pretty! We never would have noticed this beauty right here if we were obsessing about what’s way out there in the distance.
Traveling along life’s journey is all about taking little steps … in little things … and in little moments. Right here, right now. One day at a time.
In Numbers 14:2-4 God’s people were obsessed with ‘looking back’ – “All the Israelites grumbled, and the whole assembly said, ‘ … Why is the LORD bringing us to this land … Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back?’ And they said to each other, ‘We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.’”
The people of Israel were looking too far forward and worrying about the battles they would have to face in the good land God had promised to give them.
The people did not have faith to trust that God’s presence would be with them on that stretch of journey once they reached it.
We can’t go forward looking back.
Look forward … but not too far.
God’s presence will be with us, right here right now, for this stretch of life’s journey. And God’s presence will also be with us up ahead and down through the “dip” on life’s journey. And God’s presence will also be with us way out in the future where life’s road climbs up over the “hill” … then disappears.
God will be with us! Every stretch of the way!
