Stay in Your Lane

My heart is big.

I care deeply.

I give deeply.

And if I’m honest…

I’ve had to learn the hard way that those beautiful parts of me can also pull me out of balance if I’m not careful.

When big decisions need to be made, I’ve learned I can’t make them from a place of worrying about everyone else’s opinions…

Their expectations…

Their understanding…

Or their disappointment.

I have to make them from a place of listening to God and honoring what He’s asking of me in this season.

Years ago, God gave me a picture I’ve never forgotten.

I saw myself running on a track in my own lane.

And I knew exactly what He was saying:

“Run your race.

Stay in your lane.

Keep your eyes on Me.”

There will always be spectators.

Some will cheer you on.

Some will question you.

Some won’t understand.

Some will pull on you.

Some will quietly hope you’ll choose differently.

But when I ran track in high school…

I wasn’t looking into the stands.

I wasn’t wondering who was cheering.

Or criticizing.

Or paying attention.

I kept my eyes forward.

And I ran.

Maybe that’s why the picture God gave me landed so deeply.

I already knew what it felt like to stay in my lane.

To keep my eyes ahead.

To trust the race I had been given.

But if I’m being honest…

There have been seasons when I stepped out of my lane.

To explain myself.

To help people understand.

To carry things that were never mine to carry.

To make decisions based more on other people’s expectations than on what God was quietly stirring within me.

That never leads to peace.

So I’m learning something different now.

I don’t have to understand the entire course before I take the next step.

I don’t have to convince everyone that I’m running in the right direction.

I simply have to stay close enough to God to hear His voice…

And brave enough to keep moving when He says,

“Run.”

Some people will understand.

Others won’t.

And maybe that’s okay.

Because this race was never meant to be run according to the voices in the stands.

It was always meant to be run with my eyes fixed on the One who invited me onto the track.

~~~~~~~

Part of the Breadcrumbs collection by Abby Lewis—true stories that leave room for God to speak.