You have a great life in front of you but your great life is in front of you
it's not behind you what you did back there ain't got nothing to do with what God got for you what
you did back then was learn the lessons to get you to where you are at this particular moment right
here but what God got for you do you know man that you can actually mess your life completely up
you can jack it all the way up and you can turn around get it right do you understand that
do you understand that you could have had a baby out of wedlock and still be all right do you know
that you can be divorced multiple times and still be okay do you understand that you cannot have a
degree and still be just fine everybody tripping through something everybody I don't care who you
are you're going through something but if you got God you can make it I'm just trying to tell
you man God is really with you one of the ways the enemy tries to mess all of us up is to get us to
push rewind when God is saying go forward what God is doing is always ahead of you never behind you
you got to notice your front windshield is a large window the rear view mirror is a small window on
purpose there is no point in spending your time looking in the rear-view mirror of your life
yeah there's a whole bunch of junk back there a whole bunch of mistakes
a whole bunch of things you should have never said should have never did decisions you that
were not of God even if you thought they were at the moment you thought this is so wonderful
there's no need of you spending your time in the rearview mirror
you can't move forward accurately if your gaze is in the rear view mirror
imagine somebody driving their car and they're spending their whole time looking in the rearview
mirror while they're accelerating moving forward that's a disaster waiting to happen and it as it
is in driving so it is in your life you cannot spend another day of your life thinking what if
forget your what ifs I got that's a word for you right now I could be done and some of y'all got
just what you needed forget your what ifs because they are not an issue anymore there's some stuff
you can't undo even though you would want to get out that rear view mirror stop looking backwards
see some of y'all only think you're supposed to be blessed when you did everything right
I came to tell you God how many folk would qualify for those blessings
I came to tell somebody God loves you so much he still got you he got you even though you know you
did some stuff wrong he's got you even though you know you haven't been walking right in some
area of your life God said yeah my love isn't fickle when I set my love on you it's forever
I came to tell somebody quit worrying about that stuff in the rearview mirror now you got
to look at a new promise the new promise is God said I got you well can I encourage you
every time you get into a car and see the vast difference in contrast between the windshield
and the rear view mirror would you be reminded that God is saying where you were
is nowhere near as important as where you're headed
let God say to you where you were is nowhere near as important as where I am leading you
a lot of us still run our lives by looking through the rear view mirror
we steer our lives at where our lives are guided by that maybe maybe an offense that
took place or we focus on a past mistake we're constantly thinking about a stupid decision
that I made or a relational breakdown something that just didn't work a lot of people go through
life looking through the rear view mirror so listen you're either going to move forward
stand still or fall backwards God is going to make available to you the power to move forward
because he's got yet promises for your future and just because you had an unfair past
does not mean you have to have an unfair future you're gonna break through
look man if you got something that's been bothering you in your life
get past it see if God wakes you up in the morning it's a sign from God that he ain't through with
you yet why don't you wake up to go see what that is he didn't got you past whatever it was
whatever it was that's been on you he didn't really brought you through it
because he keeps waking you're done don't don't don't don't really don't lay that wallowing in
your past man your past is back there when it comes to living your life it's okay to look
back but it's not okay to live that way because it is more important that you spend more time
looking ahead at what's in front of you than what is behind you when you find yourself
feeling like you're in a rut when you find yourself feeling like you're just overwhelmed and
you're just in a season where you just you just feel really overwhelmed with life with work maybe
your spiritual whatever it is wherever you feel overwhelmed my friends it is a good time
to remind yourself to look up because what lies ahead of you is greater than whatever
you leave behind it is a good time to remind yourself that with God on your side your future
is brighter than your past God will close up your past if you're willing to move forward
because you have to understand you're either going to grab onto this and let go of your future
or you're going to grab onto your future and let go of your past you only can have one only one
and so God is saying it's time to anchor your life in your future don't anchor your life in
your past because as soon as you do it'll put you in a rut and your past is going to define you you
might have had an unfair past you don't have to have an unfair future if God got you through it
it's done move on how many times have we as people allowed God to get us through
something get us beyond something get us over something get us through something
and then even after its completion we sit there we dwell on it and we dwell on it to the point where
it becomes an anchor around our neck and we can't move on because we just won't let it go
it's done if God got you through it it's done move on stop harboring on the past stop hanging
on to every time you fail stop hanging on to every time you slipped up and messed up
stop hanging on to every time you didn't get it right everybody makes mistakes everybody messes up
everybody don't get it right everybody's struggling with something it's way more
important where you're going than where you've been don't you see that that's why the rear view
mirror is so small because it is nowhere near as important as it is as to where you're going
that windshield is for vision a man without a dream or vision shall perish that windshield
is for somebody going somewhere that windshield for somebody up there trying to make another move
now if you keep looking in the rearview mirror you'll never know how close you are
you'll never know get out the rear view mirror if God got you through it it's done
move on anchor your life in your future don't anchor your life
in your past because that'll always be tethering you and pulling you back anchor your life and your
future and that'll give you the power to move forward see if you don't if you focus on the
things of your past you'll start to get defined by your past your past is going to define you
well what do you mean you'll always be thinking of yourself as oh I'm the guy that was divorced
twice or I'm the guy whose kid ran away or really messed up oh I'm the guy that made that stupid
decision I'm the guy that has that addiction and I struggled with it for long for so long I'm the guy
that had his house foreclosed on and and uh just so hard I'm the guy and pretty soon your
past action defines you listen very carefully your past is either gonna define you or you
can define your past it's up to you you say what do you mean define your past did you know that
it's not your past that messes your life up it's how you define your past
think about it this way you can have two couples they both have the same setbacks
same financial uh breakdown the same problem with the foreclosure but one rises above it and the
other falls beneath it was it the circumstances no it was how they defined the circumstances
do you believe that God is wanting to work all things together for good to those who love God
and are called according to his purpose how many of you believe that scripture okay all right so
God is working all things for what good Genesis 50 and verse 20 what the devil meant for harm I have
turned for good how many of you believe God wants to turn everything in your past for good okay
so that's what God is trying to do I think it's high time we cooperate with God and not the devil
because the devil's come to steal kill and to destroy so he's going to work everything against
you and God is trying to work everything in your past even negative things for you now who are
you going to cooperate with because God is a God of the future and it's time for me to let go of
the past if I want to lay hold of the future and that's why Paul says in the book of Philippians
forgetting what lies behind I press forward to what lies ahead I'm not going to lead my life
through the rear view mirror I'm going to look through the windshield why that I might apprehend
that for which God has apprehended me for I want those to come together to not be defined by how
many times we fell I want us to be defined as how relentless we've been in getting back up again to
move forward now listen to what Paul says 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 heaven
word in Christ Jesus now here here's what I want us to see my friends where was Paul's attention
what was he focused on he was he stayed focused on what's next he was focusing on what lied ahead
even though he had experienced great victories and great lows in his life he was not focused
on the great victories of the past he was not focused on the hard seasons of yesterday
he was focused on what's next one of the ways that you and I can overcome and can win the struggle
against negative thoughts is by looking ahead is by focusing our attention not on the problem
that we're going through and not on the pain and the suffering of our pain of our yesterday
but instead to look up and know that there's still something good that is in front of us
to stay focused on what's next stay focused on what's next what does Paul say he says I press on
to take hold of it when we are pressing on our life when you are moving forward and pushing
on the gas pedal moving forward truly focus on all that God has for you Paul the most famous
pastor he's reminding us that in our life there might have been hard times there might have been
traumatic years there might have been years where you feel personally victimized or there
might have been someone who's really hard to get along with a time where you had struggles and pain
and can you just stay fixated on that can you just stay fixated on the past looking at the rear view
mirror Paul looks at the church in Philippi and he says press on stop looking behind look ahead
keep pursuing Jesus and moving forward don't give up or give in he says don't you realize
that your rear-view mirror is smaller than your windshield why because in our life you are only
meant to glance at the past not to stay there out of the time in your life spend one second
out of 30 seconds glancing at your past learning learning from it allowing it to help guide you
and continuing to press on Paul actually tells us that in order to do this he says forget your past
Paul clearly references his past many times in the bible he says this is who I was but it's not
who I am my sin my failures those things don't define me it's the grace of God that defines who
I am and who I will be Paul says forget your past and look forward I don't stay fixated I don't uh
just play it over and over and over again in my head and I don't pretend like it never happened
I glanced back realizing that my rear view mirror is smaller than my windshield and my past has
passed my future is before me one day this is all going to be gone and not matter anymore what are
you doing to make the future the best that it can be I want to encourage you today to have
a windshield mentality have a windshield mentality stay focused on what's next one of the things that
we know about God is that God is progressive that God the bible says that God wants to take us from
glory to glory from victory to victory what does that mean that means that there's always something
good on the horizon that means that that you may be in a hard moment right now you may be feeling
overwhelmed today you may not even know why you are where you are today but you can look up and
know that there's something good that lies ahead tomorrow the bible says this in 1st Corinthians
chapter 2 it says that no eye has seen no ear has heard no mind has been able to imagine
what God has prepared for those who love him what is God saying what lies ahead is good
what lies ahead of you is greater than what you leave behind stay focused on what's next