Seeing Through the Windshield, Not the Rearview Mirror

Things usually are designed as they are for a specific reason. “Form follows function,” the architectural and industrial design adage declares. The function or purpose of a chair is to support people sitting on it. After that, the furniture designer can decide what form the chair should take. The function of a car is to transport riders from one place to another. Once that purpose is achieved, automotive designers can figure out how to visually impress potential buyers. 

 

Form follows function. This principle came to mind while reading an entry in pastor and author Tony Evans’s Kingdom Man devotional book. He observed, “Do you know why a car’s windshield is bigger than its rearview mirror? Because where you are going is more important than where you’ve been.”

 

Simple wisdom, but profound. Unless you’re backing out of your garage or driveway, trying to steer your car while staring into the rearview mirror would be utter foolishness. Not to mention extremely dangerous, especially if you’re on the highway. Keep looking ahead! And yet, persisting to hold a rearview perspective is how many people are living their lives.

 

These folks let memories and regrets from the past dominate their days, coloring their present and shaping their future. I regard it as the “woulda, coulda, shoulda syndrome.” “If I would have done that, then this wouldn’t have happened.” “I could have chosen to do that; then I wouldn’t be where I am now.” “I should have decided to do (whatever) instead of what I did – then everything would have been different.”

 

Understandably, there’s not one of us who if given the opportunity wouldn’t change some key events or decisions in our past. The person who says, “I wouldn’t change a single thing about my life,” is either in denial or unrealistic. We all have regrets to some extent. But the simple fact is we can’t change the past. Time machines don’t exist, and even if they did, changing even a slight detail might have catastrophic consequences. Science-fiction writers call it “the butterfly effect.”

 

The best we can do is learn from the past and strive to do better in the present and time yet to come. In sports they say to be successful, a baseball pitcher or quarterback in football must have a short memory. They can’t dwell on the pitch just thrown that went over the fence for a home run, or the pass that was intercepted during the last drive. They must ignore the mistake and move on to the next pitch or play.

 

Pastor Evans added this comment: “I’m not saying yesterday is a bad conversation topic, but you don’t want to get stuck there. Yesterday’s victories will not carry you through today. Yesterday’s defeats should not dominate tomorrow.”

 

I think this is why the Bible has such forward-thinking focus. Even in Genesis, the Bible’s first book, there are many references to forthcoming events, biblical “types” that foreshadow God’s actions in the future. The Old Testament includes a series of prophetic books. And the last book of the Bible, Revelation, is filled with prophesies yet to come.

 

The apostle Paul was a man whose life could have been ruined by “rear view mirror living.” A zealous Pharisee and acclaimed religious leader, he had eagerly persecuted early Christians, even gladly spectating at the stoning of the apostle Stephen. After his dramatic Damascus Road conversion, Paul never forgot what he had done, always marveling at the incredible forgiveness, grace and mercy of God. 

 

However, rather than dwelling on his past, he was able to write, “…I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 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).

 

Apparently somewhat of a sports fan, he often used athletic metaphors. In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 he wrote, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize…. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly. I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”

 

While the apostle does not comment specifically on looking backward, he certainly understood that winning racers can’t be concentrating on portions of the course they’ve already passed. In a similar way, to live in a way that honors God we must learn to let go of the past – its failures and pain, as well as its successes and joys – as we pursue what the Lord has for us now and the days to come.

If anyone has a clear view of the past, it’s God. Still, He gives us this promise: “For I know the plans I have for you…plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). He can take our past, even in wrecked form, and make it functional for a glorious future. 

‘Yeah, But What Have You Done for Us Lately?’

There’s a trait common to most humans, and that is forgetfulness. I’m not talking about Alzheimer’s or dementia, or the phenomenon of walking into a room and then trying to remember why you went there. No, I’m referring to the “what have you done for me lately?” type of forgetfulness.

We see this in every realm of life. In the work world, an employee is sometimes regarded only as good as his or her latest day of productivity. It doesn’t matter whether the work they’ve done in the past was exemplary – if they have a day or week of poor performance, their status might suddenly move to proverbial thin ice. You’re only as good as your last day’s work.

 

This can go the other way, too. We receive a raise or bonus, and for a week or two we’re ecstatic. But before long, the euphoria over extra compensation wears off and workaday doldrums resume. We go back to regarding the boss with a sneer, as the mean taskmaster, because after all, “what have you done for me lately?”

 

We often take that same attitude with our sports teams, civic leaders, name-brand manufacturers, restaurants, even friends and loved ones.

 

My paternal grandfather passed away when I was about 12 years old, but I still have fond memories of the times I spent with him. Short in stature, outwardly he could come across as a crusty old guy, but inside he possessed a heart of gold. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for me – or for anyone else. But I remember a time when I fell into the “what have you done for me lately?” way of thinking.

 

I was at his home in Pennsylvania and had broken one of my toys. I don’t remember what the toy was, or how I had damaged it, but my grandfather – whose only fault was he failed to pass his handyman skills to me – volunteered to fix it. In my mind’s eye I still see him descending the steps into his basement, where his tools and workbench were located. 

 

After some minutes Grandpa reemerged from the basement, with the toy. But it wasn’t repaired. He said something about not being able to fix it. Being the spoiled little boy that I was back then, I simply replied, “You can’t fix anything.” Wow! Talk about ingratitude! That’s how we respond when we’re fixated on, “what have you done for me lately?” We don’t stop to think about all the kind and gracious things that have already been done – all we care about is what we want. Now.

 

My grandfather didn’t say a word in response, but I remember a look of hurt in his eyes. He just turned, again went down the stairs and didn’t come back up until the toy had been restored. Then he said, in his rich Hungarian accent, “So, I can’t fix nothing?” Thankfully, his love for me was much greater than my ingratitude.

 

This type of attitude is unacceptable, but it’s hardly new. The other day in my Bible reading, I came across a passage that showed the ancient Israelites suffered from the same kind of thinking. God had delivered them from slavery in Egypt; parted the Red Sea to enable them to escape the pursuing Egyptian army; guided them by a cloud during the day and gave them the light of fire at night; and had miraculously provided for their everyday needs in the wilderness, including water, and daily servings of manna and quail. Even their clothing and shoes didn’t wear out. And yet, repeatedly they wondered of the Lord, “what have you done for us lately?”

 

Speaking about the men of Ephraim, one of the tribes of Israel, Psalm 78:9-20 says, “…they did not keep God’s covenant and refused to live by his law. They forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them…. They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved. They spoke against God, saying, ‘Can God spread a table in the desert? When he struck the rock, water gushed out, and steams flowed abundantly. But can he also give us food? Can he supply meat for his people?’”

 

Sound familiar? Have you ever faced a crisis, something that seems beyond resolution, and thought, “Yes, Lord, you have come through for me in the past. Time after time. But this problem here, how are You going to solve this one?”

 

But it’s important – even crucial – that we continue to remind ourselves, and each other, of the wonderful things God has done in the past. We dare not forget the many incredible times when He deftly snatched victory out of the jaws of seeming defeat. As we remember those times, we must also realize that if God was faithful and all-sufficient for those times of need, why would He not be able to address our present needs, no matter how pressing.

 

I like the words of Asaph, concluding another of his psalms: “Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise” (Psalm 79:13). I think God delights in doing the impossible, bailing us out sometimes just in the nick of time. Because then we can know that it’s all His doing, nothing we have done. And that will indeed inspire us to praise Him – not only in this life, but forever.