Staying In Your Lane

Lately life just seems overly complicated. Heavy. Uncertainty in every direction you look. I don’t know about you, but I just get tired and worn down from the every day chaos and pressure. We live in a world that is overloaded with demands and distractions. Success is often measured by how many commitments you can cram onto your calendar. It is exhausting, my friend, when we try to keep up with the rat race that this world tries to convince us that we must win. It has negative effects on our physical, mental, and spiritual health. So what do we do?

Here is a phrase that I have redirected my thoughts to lately.

Stay in your lane and do the next thing.

The first part is just something that I feel God has impressed upon my heart. The second part comes from a homesteader named Jessica Sowards. She has a Youtube channel called Roots and Refuge farm. She is a Christian, and her personality is that of kindness and humility. She has a love that pours out of her for God and for others.

Stay in your lane. God knows my heart and my mind. He knows my struggles. There is no coincidence of why he has impressed this upon me. He knows how I get distracted and all too often , get caught up with the lives of others. I will never understand the choices others make and I am aware that others question my actions as well. I can often times dwell a little too much causing my focus to get blurred and shifted on things that really don’t matter. If I am not careful, it will make me doubt circumstances in my life. If I become so worried on what others are doing, I forget to live my own life. My journey is my journey. Their journey is their journey. There is no benefit from comparing the two. We all have a purpose, though unique to each of us. May I do a better job of taming the ol’ tongue and that is not an easy task! I need to be praying more for others and encouraging those around me. A few weeks back, I felt the nudge to read the book of Proverbs. There is a lot of scripture guiding us to be careful with the words we say. Before we start throwing out words about someone, we need to think before we speak. When it comes to people’s lives, we only get to see a small window. We have no idea what goes on behind the scenes. When I say these things just know I am writing them to myself first. How about before we speak out an opinion towards them, let’s speak up a prayer for them. May God help us to stay in our lane and focus on the life he has blessed us with. Let’s spend our time and energy on being the best version of “Me” and seek what God wants for us. He never created us to compare. Comparison is a thief of contentment. Let us focus on our journey, face our own struggles, and ask God to help guide us.

Do the next thing. We all like control. We like how it makes us feel. I think if the past 2 years has shown us anything, it is what little control we actually have. That can cause us to squirm in our seats a little. When we look towards the future, I think it is safe to say that we all have some kind of plan we would like to see pan out. We have that hope it will go the way we have imagined, but often times those plans get derailed. They take a wrong turn. They get lost. Next thing you know your sitting under a big dark cloud of the unknown. You don’t know what the next step will be. Do you turn right, left, or go straight? It can get very burdensome, but this is where you let go of your grip on how you think things should be, and surrender it to God. Not easy, but beneficial for sure. I am a planner. I like schedules. But sometimes my need for planning things out into the future back fires, and then I am sent scrambling around wondering what to do next. As Jessica Sowards has stated multiple times, just do the next thing. Quit thinking on a large scale and focus on the next small step that you are capable of doing. Focusing on a grand plan is daunting. I don’t know about you, but when I focus on plan ABC, I can find myself stuck just walking in circles. If I break it down and focus on each step of the plan: part A, part B, and part C, I am likely to get more accomplished and keep my sanity and peace. (Those that know me well will say Amen to that.)

If you find yourself struggling with certain aspects of life right now, I encourage you to take a step back. Know you are not alone. Take some time to slow down. Breathe. Pray. Read your Bible. Focus on the next thing you can do and stay in your lane. Live your life. I believe we were created for so much more in life, but we let this world and its troubles hold us back from what God has for us.

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

Keep moving forward,

Hayley W