Do not remember the past events, pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.     Isaiah 43:18-19 HCSB

These days there is a very dangerous thing happening on our roads and it’s distracted driving. Or, as my husband likes to put it, people are just too busy to drive. They have many other things to do like put on makeup, texting, keeping up with their social media, watching movies and some even read books. Another dangerous thing to do is to focus on your rearview mirror.

In fact, why would you want to drive forward focusing on what’s behind you? When traveling it’s good to observe what is in front of you while moving forward, but once you pass it, it’s behind you, right?

We tend to do the same thing, with past events in our lives. We can’t change the past or what has happened. So, whether it is good or bad, it’s a done deal. One good thing about the past, however, is we can use it as a learning experience. We can use it to help us learn how to do it better the next time.

But we must not dwell on it. We must let it go. I once read that it’s hard to grab on to future blessings while you are holding on to past regrets.

Our Scripture passage tells us not to worry about things of the past, because God is doing something new. In this particular passage, the Lord is trying to let the Israelites know that the deliverances they have seen will pale in the comparisons of those coming in the future. None of us can even imagine the deliverance we will see in the future millennial kingdom. We can’t even fathom how awesome eternity in heaven will be.

We were not made to dwell on the things of this earth, we are to keep our thoughts on things above (Colossians 3:1-2). We need to focus on God and His eternal love for us.

We all have a past, some of it is bad and some worse than others. But keeping our minds in the past can prohibit our ability to move forward. We need to put things from our past in our rearview mirror. The only time we should focus on them is if we find ourselves backing up which hopefully we won’t do. Hopefully we won’t repeat past mistakes but will learn from them and move forward.

And don’t give me that old line of, “Well, I can’t help what I think.” We are told in 2 Corinthians 10:5 to take every thought captive. Paul said that we can demolish strongholds and every idea that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. When we take it captive, we must make it obedient to Christ.

If you find yourself thinking of the past or looking in the rearview mirror, stop. If you continue to do so while trying to move forward, you are bound to crash. Let go of the past and give it to God. Forgive those who have hurt you and pray for their salvation, at that point you have given them over to God.

Put it in gear and move forward, don’t get stuck in reverse.

Trust in God today. We are told that we are a new creation in Christ in 2 Corinthians 5:17. A new creation shouldn’t be bothered with old problems from our past. Paul tells us in Romans 12:2 not to be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We renew our minds with thoughts of God and by focusing on Him and His goodness. We are in danger of conforming to the world when we focus on what it has done to hurt us. Move on.

Put the past in your rearview and move forward.

Have a great day!