One of the most crippling conditions in life, which we all suffer from, is the rear-view mirror syndrome, a.k.a. living in the past, or focusing on history. We all go through life with our subconscious minds looking constantly at the inbuilt rear-view mirror of our lives, through which we continuously relive and recreate our past. Looking backward is no good to anyone, especially if all it does is keep you living in the past of “what would have been, what-ifs and if only,” Vs 18. So wonderful are God’s future plans for you, that all past events should be forgotten in comparison to what is ahead of us. Jeremiah 29:11. The reason why some are failing in life is that they are living in the past, and they are not obeying what the Bible says! They chose to focus on yesteryears. Yesterdays are good to build on today and not always a guarantee for a better tomorrow. Our text says to forget what had happened and focus on what is about to. Vs 18. Rear-view mirrors are good for backing up and seeing where you have been, but as long as you are looking back you can’t see well to go forward. The Bible says that you are to forget the things behind you. You should be reaching forward! Philippians 3:13. Looking back always ends in going back according to Luke 9:62, So like Lot‘s wife who looked back and had no future, Luke 17:32. God‘s word to us is as it was to Israel, “keep moving forward” Exodus 14:15. The Bible is the landmark that shows us if we are progressing or retrogressing. Looking in the rear-view mirror of life is a guarantee of retrogression. We must learn how to let go of the past! Paul says, forgetting those things which are behind …” Forgetting the past means you no longer are influenced or affected by past events! Some will say they’ve forgotten some incident that happened long ago, but they’re still affected and influenced by it because they won’t let it go! We keep hold of emotions, grudges, and hursts that keep us looking behind, we keep our eyes peeled on the rear-view mirror and fail to see the good things happening or about to happen before us. The Lord has wonderful, beautiful, and miraculous plans for us, but they are only in front, ahead of us not behind, Vs 19. Keeping the focus on the rear-view mirror, makes us miss out on the budding future in front of us and will make us collide with whatever is ahead of us. Our eyes are in front just for that, to look ahead to the future and allow the Lord as our rearguard to watch your back, Isaiah 52:12. We can release God’s plan for our lives by no longer thinking of the past and believing that God has a good plan for our future. If we stop living in the past, we can begin to think and speak in agreement with God’s plan for us. We mistakenly believe and live like who we were is who we are which limits our potential in the present, based on the limitations of our past. If God can make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, He can make a way for you but only ahead not behind you. Stop focusing on the rear-view mirror, it only leads backward.