Rear Vision Reflection

And there are often times when I look in the rear vision mirror and am quite disappointed in what I see.

Jeremiah 18:1-23

Reference:  v.17  “Like a wind from the east, I will scatter them before their enemies; I will show them my back and not my face in the day of their disaster.” (NIV Bible)

Explore:  Although I will no doubt come across as rather vain, I’m going to admit to you that while I am driving my car I look at my reflection in the rear vision mirror.  I know that it’s there to assist my driving – and it does – but it also gives me a rather close perspective of my face.  The only trouble I have with this reflection is that it only gives me what I look like from the eyes up.  And there are often times when I look in the rear vision mirror and am quite disappointed in what I see.  The issue usually comes from my hair as it’s not sitting the correct way or its bumpy in areas it should be smooth.  And so I’ll start thinking of ways that I can readjust my hair when I get to the next set of lights.  So the next chance I get to take my hands off the wheel I move my rear vision mirror so that it is directed at me and I can see my whole head.  It’s then that I realise that when I take in the whole picture of my hair it all looks okay.  While there may be a few bumps at the top of my head I realise that it works in well with the rest of the picture (well, as well as I can hope for with what I’ve been given!)  Seeing the whole picture helps to put the close-up into perspective.

Application:  As we read through Jeremiah we are getting a close up picture of God.  To be honest, if the only picture I had of God was that which came from the book of Jeremiah, I think I would be scared of God and wonder whether he really is loving.  However, when we look at the whole picture, from when God did miraculous things to bring His people out of slavery all the way to the huge sacrifice Jesus made for all of humanity, we are able to read Jeremiah and still see God’s love and compassion.  While many of the verses talk about pain and destruction, when we know more of the character of God we are able to put it in perspective.  We should not limit God by just taking a look at Him in the rear vision mirror, but we need to acknowledge that there is so much more to God than what is represented in just one verse.

Prayer:  Lord, there is so much more that we can learn of your character and desires.  Help us to understand You more and not to limit You to our understandings.  Amen.

What is the prominent characteristic that you think of when it comes to God?  How can you explore more about the diverseness of God?