Yesterday it was raining, my wife was driving, and the windshield wiper on my side starting flopping around. It had somehow partially disconnected and wasn’t doing it’s job. She could see fine. My side was blurry to say the least.

After a few YouTube videos, Mr. Not A Mechanic finally got it attached. I’ve never seen that happen before on any vehicle.

This morning, as I left the house it was dark and misty. On the highway, “snap!” The driver’s side wiper was flopping around like one of those inflatable tube man advertisements.

I couldn’t stop for a bit, and I could still see… but the humidity made everything fuzzy. It was on the way to a prayer time, so I was already in a mind of prayer.

It seemed really odd for this to happen twice in less than 12 hours to different wipers.

“Father, are you trying to tell me something,” I asked?

“What do you see?”

Hmmm. Well, I could see the cars approaching but with the layer of fog on the windshield they looked not unlike some kind of storm trooper vehicles with an ominous ring around them. Stoplights and street lights too. At a light, I snapped a quick photo just to document it.

“So, what does this mean,” I mumbled.

“Gossip. Criticism. Lack of forgiveness.”

“What???” (I wasn’t thinking about these things at all. My devotion that morning was about faith. Walking by faith, not sight…)

“It clouds your vision and makes others appear more threatening than they actually are.”

Wow. That windshield wiper wiped me out! It WAS about walking by faith, not by sight. Let me explain.

When you hold on to any bitterness, criticism, judgment or complaints about other people, it’s like fog on the windshield. That situation from the past clouds your vision of them and each conversation or encounter is tainted by the past.

Their current words bear the weight of what you are mulling over from the past. They may walk by you with no malice or intent, but you see a storm trooper with a bad aura around them.

And here’s where it gets worse. If you’ve gossiped about that matter with another person — their windshield is obstructed as well. And the mind reading with false assumptions spreads and spreads.

Immediately one of my favorite Proverbs came to mind.

Proverbs 26:20 (NET)

Where there is no wood, a fire goes out, and where there is no gossip, contention ceases.

While I have quoted that time and time again in the context of gossip, a broken windshield wiper helped me see that the principle goes deeper.

It’s also about forgiveness. Letting things go. Confronting situations like Jesus instructed in Matthew 18.

If you don’t deal with your complaints and criticisms of others, it will deal with how you see them.

I strive to pray the Lord’s Prayer from Matthew 6 every day. “Forgive us as we forgive others.” Yet today, I realized that my sight wasn’t always in faith, believing the best of others, but is often clouded by past issues I’ve not let go of.

It didn’t take long to fix the wiper, but fixing the vision of our heart is an ongoing battle. When you feel something that doesn’t line up with the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5, it’s a warning sign. You aren’t seeing clearly.

Sometimes you just need to clean the windshield of your heart.

Are you blinded by bitterness? What do you need to wipe away from your heart and thoughts to see more clearly?

Colossians 3:12-15 (NLT)

12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.