A Driving Perspective

Looking in the rear view mirror of my Chevy van, I noticed that the center metal strip of the rear doors remained a constant distance from the highway white strip. When the van went around a corner or moved, it was always the same proportional distance away. . . and then I had this thought -- is it possible to drive by simply looking in your rear view mirror?

Now I know that some of you possibly reading this are wondering, he isn't going to is he? while those of you who truly know me, know that ... oh yes he is! So I cast my gaze to where I had come from and tried to drive successfully down the road.

At first, the experience was incredible. It worked! I was driving by viewing everything from the rear of the vehicle, and then it happened. I began hearing the sound of rumbling. The kind of rumbling that comes when ones tires hit that strip on the right side of the road. And I began to have other thoughts, thoughts like, how can you know when the road ahead curves to the right or the left. Looking only to where you have been doesn't allow you to adjust to the future direction of your vehicle. How interesting!

I have now discovered that in order to successfully navigate ones course, you must look ahead to where you are going. Looking to the past helps assess that we indeed are going in the right direction, but we must concentrate our vision toward the future.

If this forward looking is important in driving, how important is it in our lives, and in our walk with God?

As we close out 2008, there is some value to look to the past, but I'm guessing it is more important to look to the future. What is your "destination" for 2009? What road or path is God putting before you? Are you recognizing that you must always cast yours forward?

Have a very happy and forward looking New Year!

Giving In?

My father-in-law has a tendency to latch on to a phrase (or a joke) and repeat it for an extended period of time – each time saying it as if it were the first time. Right now it is an old German phrase – “Too fast old, too late smart”

When I was much younger, if someone were to get in my way, or challenge me, I would rise to the occasion and meet the challenge, letting the pieces land where they will. Over the years I have grown and matured a bit to realize that strength is not always in meeting the challenge head on, but sometimes it is in knowing when to give in.

These thoughts flooded in on me as I read these Proverbs today - "He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city." (16:32). The point is made in the opposite way in Proverbs 25:28, "Like a city that is broken into and without walls, is a man who has no control over his spirit."

Humility, submission, servant hood, acceptance of God's will--characteristics which our macho culture dismisses as weakness, but which are the epitome of strength. Only the truly strong can walk away from a fight when he could win it. Only the truly strong can humble themselves to get down and wash the feet of others, as Jesus did the disciples.

The toughest job any of us will ever have to do is to submit ourselves to another. I guess that makes Philippians 2:5-8 all that more significant.

What today does God want you to submit to? Giving in to His will isn’t weakness, it is an incredible display of strength!