Drivers Ed

 

 

 I’ve found myself feeling restless lately. I’m struggling physically with some new issues and working with my doctors to try and sort out what is wrong and it’s not a short and easy process. Social media is usually a main source of fraternization for me, but lately the current political climate has transformed it into an emotional minefield. Many people have grown increasingly unsettled, frustrated, impatient, oppositional, and hostile.  Even pharmaceutical posts like I’ve been sharing for years, have solicited heated backlash and accusation to a level I haven’t experienced before. It’s discouraging and exhausting. I made the decision this week, to stop scrolling my Facebook home feed and to give myself a reprieve. I removed the news app on my phone and immersed myself in projects in my home, and made more of an effort to pray about the things that were nagging at my heart emotionally as well as physically.

Mathew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

My Father in Heaven reminded me of something and whispered these thoughts into my heart. Amy you are mine. You were bought with a hefty price. This fight against evil and hate is mine. Just need to keep their eyes on me and your heart tuned to hear My Spirit. You need no further justification, defense, or identity. You are a daughter of the King. Feel the peace of resting in the shadow of the Almighty.

My husband has this saying that helps me. When I start worrying about things I can’t control, he say’s, “Hun, stay in your own lane.” It’s a good reminder for me. It metaphorically drives the point home better than anything else can. When on the straight and narrow highway; stay in your own lane. I can only drive my own car to the best of my ability. I can’t control anything but myself. Amy, just drive your car the best that you can and mind your own wheel.

I’ve had peace since I began focusing on these things. As a child of God, my job is to to obey God, trust Him, and love my neighbor as myself. It makes things much more simple when I primarily focus on this.

The truth is, almost every person with good intentions is doing the best they can to adapt to their own life circumstances. Most of us are trying to make the decisions we think are the right ones, whether our conclusions are the same or not. We have to be patient with each other. We are not always going to agree. We are not all going to arrive at the same conclusions, we don’t all mature at the same pace, and we are not all going to conduct our lives exactly the same. Just because we all believe in God and we are all trying to follow Him, doesn’t mean our walk will look identical. The good news is; The more closely we strive to model Jesus, the more we will be in harmony with each other. We were all created as individuals, with different purposes, and different goals that God wants to accomplish through us. God works in different ways, with different timing, and different methods, for different people. There are individuals who led people out of Egypt, fled to preserve records of their people, built an ark, been martyrs, and saved whole groups of people through being divinely placed in the right position at the right time. Each of their lives looked drastically different, and yet they were all traversing a straight and narrow path. As followers of Jesus, our concern is not how another follower is walking. Our concern should be whether our own walk is getting us lined up squarely on that straight and narrow path and placing our feet in the footsteps of Jesus. It should be a primary focus to ask God to lead us and guide us to the specific purpose He has for our own life. I am trying to stay zeroed in on that. Amy, stay in your own lane. Ironically, I had a dream over 19 years ago that this phrase immediately brings to mind. In my dream I was on a busy highway covered in snow and ice and many cars were crashing and spinning out of control around me. I was scared and I cried out, “God help me!” I heard an audible voice in my dream, tell me which way to turn my wheel to keep me safe. I ended up directed to an off ramp that was completely deserted but peaceful and I was safe. There is a lot more to this dream, but the main point was that I cried out to God and He directed me to where He wanted me and He brought me peace in the midst of chaos. I profoundly feel this right now. I’ve been watching cars spin out and crash for weeks and yet, when I cried out to God, He directed me safely to a place of peace. Amy stay in your own lane. Ask God to direct you, and He will continue to give you peace. We each have a choice. No God no peace, or know God know peace. 

I pray you each have peace amid the chaos of our current world. I pray you feel love and comfort. I love you each my friends. Big Hugs! 

 

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