Driving down the M1 Freeway two weeks ago, Priscila asleep in the passenger seat, I eased on the breaks. The car in front of me had stopped completely about twenty metres ahead and so too all the other cars in our proximity. As gently as I'd slowed it was enough to stir Priscila and she sat up and asked through squinted eyes, 'What's wrong? Have we come the wrong way?'
She didn't stay awake long enough for me to answer but the question is pivotal. She'd woken confused because she wasn't used to seeing traffic stopped at this point in the road. We'd driven it dozens of times before and there was supposed to be free flowing traffic at this time of day.
Have you ever been stopped in a place where normally you moved freely? I'm not talking about traffic now. I'm talking about the everyday circumstances of life. Has an unanticipated argument stopped you in your tracks, taking the wind out of your sails? Maybe the fear of some bad news in an upcoming meeting slows you down a bit in going about your day. Perhaps you wake every day with the idea that you're incapable, fearful, doubtful.
It results in a slowing down or a coasting that ensures a safe, unnoticed passage through the day. I'll tell you now. That is not a lifestyle that fulfils God potential. It's a lifestyle ruled by fear of the unknown and the anticipated, a life lived in captivity, never quite mustering the strength to get out and see just how rewarding freedom is.
Break lights
We crawled for the next ten minutes and as we edged closer to the crest of the hill I could see a fire engine, now a tow truck, a semi-trailer; it looked bad. However as we got closer what I noticed actually shocked me. There was no accident. The scene was perfectly clear from injury and breakage. Nothing seemed desperate or even remotely concerning.
In fact the tow truck driver, the firemen and what must have been the driver of the semi stood around talking and laughing amongst the vehicles. The whole situation was so far over to the left that it virtually blocked the shoulder of the freeway and jutted quarter way into the left lane so that the stoppage of traffic could not be pinpointed to the situation whatsoever.
Rather, the traffic jam was a result of onlooking drivers who, driving in the right hand lane, would slow down to have a closer look and contemplate what might have happened before. In slowing down to examine the past more carefully, these cars were in turn holding up three kilometres of cars who would in turn all stop and have a look.
I might have looked through the corner of my eye myself. What is wrong with us? Why are we so transfixed by what might have been and by what is past? Why are we so held back by crashes and near misses that we miss what is coming our way?
Moving forward
There is so much in God's word about moving forward. 'Tell the people of Israel to go forward,' God says, 'stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it.'What's lies in your way? What's your traffic jam? Do you know God can divide it? He can get you through. In 2 Corinthians it is written, 'if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. The old has passed away and the new has come.'
There is absolutely no reason for us to be held back by what has gone before. Instead we keep our eyes fixed on what lies ahead. Proverbs says, 'let your gaze be straight before you.' What good could possibly come from walking with our gaze turned behind, from living out of the fear of repeating past mistakes, disqualified for a past life? How do you ever live up to your potential if you're constantly trying to piece together where you went wrong?
These are some questions I believe God is asking someone today. In this season I believe God has a message for some people and it's to look straight ahead. Move forward. Forget what happened before. Forget that past relationship. It's dead weight. Forget what you did when you were twenty-one. That doesn't amount to who you are now. Forget what life used to be like, your character flaws and limitations.
They were washed away when you made the decision to follow Jesus. Jesus takes us as we are and transforms us. Romans 12 verses 1-2 talks about transformation living with a renewed mind. You have to renew your mind. You do this by praying and meditating on God's word. By reading it and digesting it. Thinking about it and putting it into action. That's repentance, that's proactive, that's transformation.
All of us need to stop being limited by our rear view mirror and start looking through the windscreen. What I can see for you is astonishing! You've got to lift your eyes. If you can do that, if you can say,
Today I am going to look towards my future.
Jesus I know I've got some stuff in the past but it's nothing on my future.
Today I choose to follow you.
I choose to run after you.
Grant me your favour Lord.
I give you the glory and the honour,
in Jesus' name.
Then I know you are going to soar on the wings of eagles. You will run and not grow weary. You will walk and not faint.
God bless you.
David Luschwitz is from Zetland, Sydney and is passionate about equipping people to "Renew their Minds, Revive their Spirit and Reclaim their Lives." Check out the vision and mission statement at www.davidluschwitz.com.
David Luschwitz' previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/david-luschwitz.html