Eyes on the Road

Sometimes God doesn't speak in the middle of a church service.

Sometimes He speaks while you're sitting in traffic.

In this episode of Unrelated Sisters: Truth & Grace Conversation, Shannon shares how an ordinary morning commute became an extraordinary conversation with God. While sitting in Atlanta traffic, praying over the upcoming Roots Before Fruit conference, lifting up coworkers, and carrying Mable on her heart, God asked one simple question:

"Why are you looking in the rearview mirror? What you need is in front of you."

That moment led to a powerful reminder that while our past has purpose, it was never meant to determine our direction.

Together, Shannon and Deb discuss how shame, regret, trauma, and even familiar places can keep us looking backward when God is continually calling us forward. Through Scripture, personal testimony, and honest conversation, you'll be encouraged to stop letting yesterday steer your tomorrow and begin trusting the road God has prepared ahead of you.

If you've ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or unable to let go of what was, this episode is for you.

"The next time you get in your car, look through the windshield... then glance at your rearview mirror and ask yourself: Which one have I been living through?"

Key Bible Verses

Theme Verse

Philippians 3:13–14

"But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal..."

God Makes Us New

2 Corinthians 5:17

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation..."

A beautiful reminder that God isn't just improving us—He is making us new. 

God Is Doing Something New

Isaiah 43:18–19

"Forget the former things... See, I am doing a new thing!"

Keep Your Eyes on Jesus

John 21:15–19

Peter denied Jesus three times.

Jesus restored him three times.

Failure was not Peter's final destination.

Press Forward

Luke 9:62

"No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

Encouragement

Maybe today you're staring into a rearview mirror that God never intended you to live in.

Maybe it's regret.

Maybe it's shame.

Maybe it's a failed relationship.

Maybe it's church hurt.

Maybe it's a dream that didn't work out.

Or maybe it's a version of yourself that God has already redeemed, but you keep revisiting.

Friend, your past isn't worthless.

It has taught you.

It has shaped you.

It has become part of your testimony.

But it doesn't get to decide your destination.

God doesn't erase your history—He redeems it.

Every mistake becomes a testimony of grace.

Every disappointment becomes an opportunity to trust Him more deeply.

Every delay becomes another reminder that His timing is better than ours.

The windshield is bigger for a reason.

God has given you a much greater view of where He's taking you than where you've been.

So keep driving.

Even if traffic is slow.

Even if life feels paused.

Even if you can't see around the next curve.

The God who called you is already waiting on the road ahead.

 Prayer

Father,

Thank You for meeting us in the ordinary moments of life. Thank You that You still speak in quiet conversations, traffic jams, morning commutes, and the places where we least expect to hear Your voice.

Lord, so many of us are carrying things from our past that You never intended us to keep carrying. Heal the places where shame, regret, disappointment, fear, or unforgiveness still hold us captive. Help us to learn from our past without living there.

Give us the courage to trust the road You have placed before us. When life feels slow, remind us that waiting is never wasted when we are walking with You. When we are tempted to keep looking behind us, gently turn our eyes back toward Jesus.

Thank You that You are a God of redemption, not condemnation. Thank You that You make all things new and that Your plans for us are greater than anything we've left behind.

May we walk forward in faith, fixing our eyes on You, trusting every step You ask us to take.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

We want this to be truly interactive podcast. Please go in the fan mail at
https://unrelatedsisterspodcast.buzzsprout.com and tell us your stories and let us know if it’s okay to share (no names). Let us know if you need prayer or how we can support you in your journey. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen. 

Follow us on

 Facebook @Unrelated Sister's: Truth & Grace Conversation Podcast 

TikTok @Unrelated.SistersPodcast

 Email us at unrelatedsisterspodcast@gmail.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Lord, we love you today. We thank you for this opportunity to be here. And God, we just thank you that Lord that you are so faithful. And we just thank you for all the many blessings that you're doing in our life. And we just ask that you just be with us today as we uh conversate on things that you have spoken to us. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 0:18

Hey ladies and gents, and welcome back to Unrelated Sisters Truth and Grace Conversation. I'm Shannon. I'm Deb. And today we have a very short story for you. So um this past week I had to visit another store that uh for my company, and it is in downtown Atlanta, and so I have to get up first and foremost at 3 a.m. And then I have to drive through traffic. And traffic in Atlanta is definitely not something that I enjoy. So we are I'm in Atlanta and I'm sitting in just stopped. Like we're just stopped traffic, we're not even crawling, right? We're just sitting there. And um, I keep looking in the rear view mirror because in the rear view mirror, because in Atlanta, like these people swerve in and out, like they there's no, like, to me, they're crazy, like they draw crazy, they, you know, and um, and so I keep looking in the rearview mirror, and I hear God say, Why are you looking in why are you looking in the rearview mirror? What you need is in front of you. And I'm like, what does that mean? And I so you know, so me and him start conversating and we start talking back and forth or whatever, and um I hadn't done, you know, because you asked to change the date for the conference, and and for some reason I kept just pushing it off. Like instead of doing what I needed to do or making that phone call, I just kept pushing it off, and it wasn't I mean, the date doesn't matter, right? The date doesn't matter, the what matters is that we do what God told us to do, and but I just kept like I don't know why. And so, and then so I'm sitting there and I I got to thinking, and so then I started Googling, uh, why is the windshield of your car so much bigger than the back window and the mirror that you look into, right? And uh, so God God said, He said, your everyday moments is what makes you where you are. Right? And so a windshield in a rearview mirror become a reminder that while our past has purpose, it was never meant to determine our direction. It was never meant for us to follow through with where we are. So in Philippians 3, 13 through 14, it says, but one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I pass on towards the goal. So while I'm sitting there and you know, this verse pops up because I'm Googling different things, you know, how does how does the windshield relate to the Bible? And how does, you know, just you know, what Bible verses would, you know, what Bible verses does it send me to, I start thinking and I start praying about the conference. Uh I start thinking about Mabel and where she's at and what she's headed to. So I started praying on her, and it was just one of those things, like I've I've got some co-workers that's got some things going on, and if they would just let go of their past and look forward, like their life would be so much smoother, and and they would find they would start to find their peace. And like it just it was like that's all they need, yeah, is to find their peace. You know, and then traffic slowly started to move, you know, and and we started moving forward, and in that whole thought process, you know, all I could think about that whole day was God speaks to you in the in the smallest of times. You know, and it was uh it was Thursday after morning. So I don't know what was going on with y'all on Thursday, but like I could not let y'all go on Thursday. And so I just kept praying and it just kept like I don't know, it just it just went. I don't know where it went. Like it was crazy. But it was funny at the same time and extraordinary how it just all come about and come to. So that's good.

SPEAKER_01 4:33

And the the wind show when you're it's all it shows the bigger picture. It does. It even like even the side mirrors show the smaller. Right. You know, but if you just you know, because you look to the left or the right, you can just see a glimpse. But when you're looking forward, you can get to see more of the big picture.

SPEAKER_00 4:49

You can too. You can. And you know, sometimes we continue to look back, you know, because we have regret or shame or failure.

SPEAKER_01 5:00

It's familiar. Right. You know what I mean? And you have to familiar's not good sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 5:08

What you know doesn't always mean it's what's with best for you. Yeah. Right? And it's so much easier to go back to what you know, and it's so much easier to go back to what you're used to, I guess, instead of what's comfortable to you. Yeah, instead of what's comfortable for you. And then I get to work, you know, and like I said, I couldn't like the whole day was just a like a total like blur kind of day where it was just every time I turned around, I felt like I was talking to God. Even though I was at work, I was in my own little world, right? Like the whole day is a complete blur of work, and I was strolling through, you know, because I like TikTok. So I was strolling through TikTok, and there was this group of young folks, and they were talking about 2 Corinthians um 517. And I'm like, what is that? Huh. And I and I've read it probably a thousand times, like it's not like it's not I've not ever read it, but it meant something different that day. And uh I'm getting to it. It says, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come, the old has gone, and the new is here. You know, and that is where this new generation coming up are so starved for that love of God that you see it everywhere if you look past all the chaos, right? And and when and when they start to read and they start to look into it, it gives us hope of what you see in the windshield of what's coming, you know, and in Revelations it talks about the end of days and it talks about all the chaos and it talks about all the different things that I feel like is definitely we're living in those times now, you know, but this next generation, I guess, you know, because in um in in um like Greek theologic and stuff, it talks about the end of time, and then it talks about something great happening, and the end of time doesn't come, it moves on forward, right? And this next generation, I feel like, is headed in the way that we could be, it may not be the end of times, even though we're living it, we've not lived it fully, right? No man knows the day or hour. No man knows the day or hour. So when I googled the rear view mirror and its purpose, uh Google said that its purpose was balance, right? So because God's never told us to pretend our past didn't happen, right? He doesn't want you to have PTSD, which is not, you know, a lot of PTSD, and people, you know, think it comes from trauma. And it does, but it comes with not dealing with the trauma, it comes from just ignoring it, and then eventually it comes back and gets you. Resurfaces, resurfaces, yes, and um sometimes you don't even realize it.

SPEAKER_01 8:24

Oh yeah, you think that yeah, yeah, yeah. And then you're like, oh, I'm still dealing with it.

SPEAKER_00 8:29

Right, you know, and everybody thinks PTSD is for something that's huge trauma, and it's not always huge trauma. It can yes, it can be stuff, and it's you know, smells trigger me. Yeah, certain situations trigger me.

SPEAKER_01 8:43

And uh people talk to you trigger me.

SPEAKER_00 8:45

Yeah, the way someone talks to me, the way you know, the way someone, and sometimes it's just the way they look at me can trigger can trigger the PTSD. But it says that God never tells us to pretend it didn't happen, right? He wants us to know it exists. But the rear view mirror exists for you to learn and to have testimony and gratitude and humility. Where at the windshield wants you to look forward. It wants you to see what can be and where you're headed. So it's okay to remember, it's just not okay to live in it.

SPEAKER_01 9:28

Yeah, you gotta press forward. Right, yeah, we can talk about it, we just can't re you know, stay there.

SPEAKER_00 9:40

Just can't stay there, and that you know, and that's hard sometimes, I think, for people, their selves, because again, we're back at familiar we're at what we know, at what we're used to, you know, and and that's where your village comes in, I think. That's where your village comes in. That's where you have to have those people that you trust to talk to that will help you and lead you with God and in God. So and we can talk about different examples, you know. Peter denied Jesus three times, and Jesus still restored him and replaced him, you know. Uh, we can talk about David and his failures, you know. He was he was humbled, and then at the end he found his calling, you know, and we've all walked in those footsteps, one way or another, I feel like, and we can all be redeemed. Just our history doesn't make us who we are, it makes us who we're going to be, right? It gives us the strength that you need to battle the enemy, right? Because there you, when you go through things, you develop a strength within yourself and within God that helps you walk through the battles that come after you and the enemy that comes after you. Just because he redeems your history doesn't mean he erases it, right? And I thought to me was very like boom for me, right? Like, God's redeemed my past, he's redeemed my history, but that doesn't mean my history's been erased, and the most healing thing I've ever done, I believe, was tell my story. And it's not always the same story, oh yeah, because I'm not always in the same place, yeah. And just because God or I found God, or I finally decided to listen to God, or I finally found my peace with God, doesn't mean that my life is perfect. Does it mean that I don't have situations, I don't have emotions, I don't find myself feeling depressed, I don't find myself angry, or I don't find myself upset about something. But it does how I deal with it. You know, before when I got feeling depressed or overwhelmed, I'd call in a bed or get high for two days, right? And just not think about it. And now I don't do that. You know, now I I I go to I go to my knees in prayer, you know, I call a friend. Um I di I do the the things that I need to do to come out of it instead of wallowing in it, and that's where your windshield is. Right? It's taught me to go forward and not take steps backwards. So sometimes we talk about what happens if it drove, if you know, if you're driving for a long time, you start to um you you get tired of looking forward, right? And then when all these uh all these other the side mirrors here, these are the other people and there's things that they have going on and that they come to you about. You know, sometimes you get tired of looking in the in the windshield and you start to look in the rearview mirror or you start to look in the side mirrors of everybody else's what's going on, right? And um, that's when sometimes you have to take a break and you have to pull over and you have to take a nap. You know, it's okay to say no, and it's okay to have boundaries, which we talk about a lot, you know, but sometimes when we continue to do the same things over and over and over again, we miss what God has given us. And even I do it still, yeah. You know, I my relationship with I feel like with God is stronger than it's ever been in my life, but I still miss those opportunities. Yeah, I still get within my side mirrors, you know, and get caught up in other things, situations, in other situations, and stuff is none of my business, it's not mine to carry. That's hard for me because I have a heart and a big heart, and I want to help everybody, and I want everybody to feel the grace and the joy and the peace that I have found, but it's usually not their time, and that's not my place to give it to them. So I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 14:17

I was I heard somebody say the other day on Facebook. Uh the lady Linda at Compassion House, she put um living a life of unthankfulness. How does it say it is being out of the will of God? Being out of the will of God. If you're not living in thankfulness, you're definitely not in the will of God. Right. Right? And I was like, whoa, because we always talk about we want to be in your will, we want to do your thing. That's the first step. Being gr having gratitude. Yeah, having gratitude. I think that helps us from going back to the past. For me, you know, being thankful for where I'm at. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 15:01

And not because there's a million things I could look at that's not where you want to be or where you think you should be by this time of your age and life. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I definitely, I feel like I definitely want to do that. Well, you definitely can't look at that timeline. It'll it'll make sure. It will. And got your timeline is so different than God's timeline, you know. And it's one definitely one day at a time and one step at a time.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

I think he has a way of accelerating things beyond what we could ever have done in our own strength or our own journey without him. He has a way of accelerating, so we don't know why we even worry about the numbers or the time. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 15:40

Well, you know, it's hard. We are human, I know, you know, and we do look at what other people have. I know, and we and we do look at, you know, well, why can't I preaching to me over here? Yeah. You know, but then that's the thing, and and we talk about it a lot, you know. You are an example for Mabel of where she can be. I'm an example of you, where you can be. You know, and then other people are examples of me where I can be. Yeah, and and you need that, you need it instead of being jealous or I just posted that or hovering over it, or or all, you know, cover coveted in it. Is that the word? Coveted?

SPEAKER_01 16:23

Sit me next to the women that are doing better than me so they can inspire me not to move on. Yeah, not to be jealous or intimidated.

SPEAKER_00 16:30

Yes, and and that and that and that's what you need. You know, that's why God gives us a village, right? That's why God gives us, I think that's why God puts us all together and puts us in a life together. Because it's not because what I have is better than what you have, but look where I came from and what you can have, you know, and when you're sitting in your own filth, or when you're sitting on the ground, you have to see where you can be to be able to move on, and that has a lot to do with the front windshield being so much bigger than the back or being the rearview mirror, you know. It because it takes faith and it takes hope and it takes purpose to get to where that windshield is leading you. You know, God continually calls his people forward. We choose to take steps backwards. We choose that's a choice. It's a choice that we make. Yeah, then we get in our feelings. Yeah, you know, um Joshua crossing Jordan, Peter stepping out of the boat, the Israelites moving towards the promised land, and then being ungrateful. And it's it took them so much longer to get to where they were supposed to be because they would start writing and complaining and start moving backwards, you know, and God would be like, Well, I this is on you, you know. He rarely tells you to go backwards, he always tells you to follow me. So if you fix your eyes on Jesus and you fix what his plan is for you, and I promise you, his plan doesn't happen tomorrow, and it may not happen in six months, but if you are faithful, he will bring you to it. Every time. Uh, in preparing for the conference, in preparing for my next season in life, in preparing for leadership and and the things that you know I've been through a lot of challenges lately. I feel like, and but I feel like as a leader, I'm growing. And not just personally as a leader growing and not just at work, but I think I'm growing to lead other women into into where we're where we need to go. And I told somebody at work the other day, they were like, you have no problem speaking your mind. And I don't. But then when it comes to this, I'm so much more comfortable and so much more confident sitting here behind this microphone than I am doing it in a crowd setting, you know. And I think that's where God is that's where the conference has come from. I think it's one of those that God is like, it's time to break you out of that shell, it's time to get you past that point, you know. And when you said the other day that we need, you know, that you we didn't think this through, right? We got excited. Yeah, we jumped feet first, we picked a day. We jump we picked a date. We're like, this is what we're doing. Well, not only are we not thinking about the baby coming, but I didn't think about all the things going on in August either, right? Like, I'll be out of town for the first week of August, I'll be out of town the last week of August. Uh my birthday is the first week of August, my sister's birthday is the third week of August. Uh, my father-in-law's birthday is the second week of August. You know, there's family things that's going to be happening. Plus, we have to record the podcast every week with all of that going on.

SPEAKER_01 20:10

Work is a nightmare through August.

SPEAKER_00 20:12

And work is a nightmare.

SPEAKER_01 20:15

For you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:15

And then it's back to school for it's back to school for us, right? And then we'll be excited while you're busy. Yeah. You know, it's back to school for us, and then and then, and I, you know, have community events that we do for back to school. We, you know, we help hand out backpacks to the kids and we help collect school supplies for the kids, and we help, and this year, like all the community things that I normally do for work, like raising money for the children's hospital and things like that, like I've just not been in it. Like, we just we have just it This year may happen so fast though. I don't even yeah, I don't even know what I don't even know where the year is went. You know, and so when you you know when you come up and I was like, well, no, we have to do it the 15th, you know, and I didn't say nothing, right? And then I think that's why it took me a minute to call because I didn't call till Wednesday. Yeah, right? I didn't call till Wednesday. Uh and uh and my daddy texts me on Monday and he says, Have you reached out? And I was like, no, and he goes, Why? I was like, I don't know. He goes, What's going on? Nothing. He's like, quit being stubborn, you know, and I'm like, whatever, you know, and uh and it's not like the windshield, the whole conversation that you know, it was like God was like, just do it. Like, what are you doing? Like But we hadn't advertised, we set up the event, and that's been the end of it, right? Um, and then I got to thinking, I wrote I wrote the thing. I hadn't looked at it since. I hadn't looked at it since. So what was I gonna do? Like the day before, sit down and like study on it? You know what I mean? Like I was like, What are you doing?

SPEAKER_01 21:56

Do you like we're on vacation there and then?

SPEAKER_00 21:58

Yeah, because yeah. They're getting ready for you know, they're doing that last minute stuff before they get ready to go back to school. You know, I don't know. I just it was just I don't know. And it's one of those things, like it doesn't matter. Like if we have to put it off till January, we have to put it off till January. Well, we're not doing that. We're not doing that. We're doing it. But you know, but God's timing is always right. Always. God's timing is always right.

SPEAKER_01 22:26

He knows sometimes he can see it be way where further up we can and sometimes he has to slow us down.

SPEAKER_00 22:32

Sometimes when you're looking through the mirror, the the uh windshield, uh that's why you run into stock traffic. Yeah, because God is like, whoa! I'm glad you're excited, but you need a minute, right?

SPEAKER_01 22:46

And definitely because I'm bad about that too. Like I get excited, I would go and hold it. You know what I mean? We don't think nothing through until we have to think it through. Until God makes you think it through. Yeah. This might not be right.

SPEAKER_00 22:59

So I think we're I think we're in a place we need to be. And then, you know, with all the attacks that's been happening and all the what are you talking about? Oh yeah, and all the things that's been going on personally in in our lives and just and at work and a lot of spiritual warfare going on, and we know we're headed in the right direction. I know it without a doubt. But I think we were trying to rush it. I do. I think we were trying to rush it, and I think that's uh it's okay to take a step back and think about it for a minute. So I have a couple challenges for our for our for our listeners. So the next time you get in your car, take a minute and just pause. Look through your windshield, and then look through your rear view mirror, and then ask yourself, which one have I been living through? That's good. You know, that's good. Look, look and think about it. And it's usually those small, simple moments in life where God works the biggest. But God, you know, God intentionally made one bigger than the other, and that's how He intends us to live our lives.

unknown 24:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:16

So just uh just look. And and it's changed my whole reflection of life this week after the fact, and I was like, quit looking back, quit looking back, or quit worrying about what's next. Yeah, quit quit just look through the windshield. Yeah. Let's look through the windshield and enjoy it. If you're sitting still, you're sitting still. It's okay. If you're if you're moving like a turtle, you're moving like a turtle. It's okay. Yeah, God doesn't always expect us to jump and run. He expects us to sit with him. That's all he wants.

SPEAKER_01 24:55

Praise out. Lord, we love you and we thank you, Lord, that you help us to not go back, Lord. You help us this week to look forward and look, look ahead, God, to the things that you have in store for us. And Lord, that we won't um worry or about what we got going on around us, Lord, but we'll just be present in the moment and the things that you're doing right now today in our lives, God, and that we'll be grateful for it. And we just want to thank you for everything that you're doing in Jesus' name. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 25:25

Amen. Amen. If you enjoyed this, please share it with somebody else. If you have any questions, you're welcome to email us or send us a message on our Facebook page, Unrelated Sisters Truth and Grace Conversation. Um, thank you for listening, and we love each and every one of you, and we pray for you weekly, and we pray for you daily. And if you have a special prayer, reach out and let us know. Thank you, girls, thank you, guys. We love y'all. Love you.