Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear

Every side mirror on every car carries the same seven words at the bottom of the glass: objects in mirror are closer than they appear. The mirror is curved on purpose so you can see more of the road, but everything in it looks smaller and farther away than it really is.

I can't stop thinking about that, because most of us look at our lives through a curved mirror. We see the economy, the boss, the bank account and every missed opportunity. But the curve does something sneaky. It makes the biggest obstacle look small and far away, when most of the time that obstacle is not out on the road at all. It is sitting in the driver's seat.

A Bathroom Mirror in Nashville

A few years ago my wife and I flew to Nashville for a leadership convention. Thousands of people packed an arena, and we were hungry and new in the season God was building. But by the second day I honestly was not hearing the speakers anymore. The noise inside of me was louder than the arena.

So I slipped out to an empty restroom and ended up staring at myself in the mirror. God made it abundantly clear that on the path I was on, the barriers were no longer people or opportunity or the economy. The only thing standing in my way was the person looking back at me. Not a boss, not my past, not my education. Just me.

A year later, at that same convention, I was standing on the stage receiving an award for our team and telling that story. Same place, same week, same bathroom. And a different person was staring back at me in the mirror.

The Enemy Just Needs You to Look Away

The enemy doesn't need to stop you. He just needs you to keep looking at everything else. If he can keep your eyes on the road and on the reasons it can't happen, you will never check the driver's seat.

I am not saying circumstances aren't real. I have walked through divorce, car repossessions, losing both of my parents, and saying goodbye to friends far too early. But when God gives you a promise, there is usually only one thing that can stop it, and that is whether you will truly partner with Him or personally get in His way.

The Man Who Looked and Forgot

I didn't make up this mirror idea. James, the brother of Jesus, uses a mirror to describe the difference between people who hear the truth and people who live it.

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.

(James 1:23 and 24, NASB)

The man looked. The problem is he didn't do anything with what he saw. How many of us have had that moment at a conference or at church, and within 48 hours forgot what God was calling us to change?

But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

(James 1:25, NASB)

That phrase, looks intently, is the hinge of the whole thing. It is the same kind of word used on resurrection morning when a disciple runs to the empty tomb, stoops down and peers inside. He doesn't glance. He bends down because he has to know. That is the posture of a real mirror moment.

Why We Look Away So Fast

I think there are three reasons. First, looking is expensive. The moment you really see something, you are responsible for it. If you never look at the debt, you never have to make a plan. Second, we confuse our past with our identity, and see every version of ourselves that failed instead of who God is calling us to become. Third, no one else is looking with us. Without accountability, it is easy to go right back to normal.

Every Builder Has a Blind Spot

You can adjust your mirrors perfectly and still have a blind spot. That is why you need someone in the passenger seat. My wife Davina has been that for me. She holds up a mirror to my life, and it can be uncomfortable, but she is not my critic. She is my partner. You can't build alone, not because you're weak, but because every builder has blind spots.

Build Until

In Luke 19, Jesus tells a story about a nobleman who gave ten servants a mina each, about three months of a working man's wages, along with one instruction.

Do business with this until I come back.

(Luke 19:13, NASB)

He didn't say guard it. He said do business with it until. God has put something in your hands: time, gifts, a testimony, a calling. The question in the mirror is whether you will keep sitting on it or build with it until He comes.

Your Mirror Moment

James says the blessing is in the doing, so here is your action step. Go to builduntil.com/mirror. It takes about five minutes on your phone. You look yourself in the eye, make the promise to no longer get in your own way, and answer three simple questions. Then post it, tag me so I can cheer you on, and share it in the free Build Until Community so other builders can hold you to it.

For the whole story, listen to The Man in the Mirror on The Jesse Wood Show, on YouTube or wherever you get podcasts. The person in the mirror is closer than they appear, and so is your next step.

Don't build for a season. Build until.