Stay in Your Lane!

Stay in Your Lane!

One evening in March of 1995, Dave and I arrived in Medellin Colombia as part of a ministry trip with Christ For the City International. We had recently joined their staff and were on a six-week tour that included many of their Latin American bases, a staff retreat in Florida, and a city-reaching workshop in Southern California. We were picked up at the airport by a CFCI missionary and headed through the mountains to where we would be spending the next few days. In retrospect, this was one of the most harrowing experiences of my life!

It seemed that in Colombia (and many other Latin countries) traffic laws were taken as merely suggestions as to how one should drive! Stop signs and lights were obeyed only if it was convenient. Driving on the wrong side of the road was an alternative way to get up the side of a mountain – with seemingly no regard as to what might be around the bend in the road! I recall what a relief it was when we returned home to clearly defined streets and highways, with clearly marked lane lines, and drivers who clearly paid attention to driving protocols!

Fast forward a number of years to the point where Dave had died and I was struggling to find purpose and direction on my own. Everything in my life had changed, and I honestly wasn’t sure which way I should be going. I seemed to have a lot of ideas of things I could do, but I also seemed to be wandering from one thing to another, simply trying on ideas to see what would fit the best. When I finally settled into creating and developing Refocusing Widows, I faced another challenge.

I was constantly barraged with questions from well-meaning, caring people. What about the men? What about divorced people? What about single women? Aren’t the issues pretty much all the same? What about caring for children who are grieving? It’s true that wherever we turn, we are surrounded by people who are lonely, grieving in various ways, and hurting emotionally. Who will care for all of them? My heart got heavier and more confused as I encountered these comments and questions.

One day while praying about this, I clearly heard the Lord say something interesting. He said, “Stay in your lane!” What in the world did that mean? Have you ever had the Lord tell you something similar? The more I thought about this, the more I realized that God gives to each of us a very specific, clear calling. Consider this scripture:

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” — Ephesians 2:10

This verse tells us that we were specially created by God to accomplish specific things that He prepared beforehand for us to do. Obviously, we retain the free will to do them or not, but this would be God’s perfect plan that he had in mind for each of us. This gives us the feeling of walking in a specific path, not just wandering here and there from one path to another!!

In one of those Aha! Moments, I realized that God had called me to work specifically with widows during this season of my life. All of the other needs still remain, but I am not called or assigned to meet all of those needs – only to create materials that will help widows walk out of their grief and sorrow. What a relief!

Understanding this concept also helps us to more clearly understand the functioning of the Body of Christ, as explained to us in Paul’s letters to the churches in the New Testament. The following passage clarifies the interdependence of believers and the necessity of each member fulfilling their unique role.

“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and not all members have the same function, so in Christ we who are many are one body, and each member belongs to one another” – Romans 12:4-5

Ephesians 4:15-16 further develops this idea, stating, “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head. From Him the whole body, fitted and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, through the work of each individual part”.

There are many times throughout the course of our lives that we will be tempted to be in the wrong lane. Several examples come to mind: runners in a race are assigned a specific lane in which to run, according to their trial times. This is especially important for relay teams, as they don’t want to risk being in the wrong lane when it comes time to hand off the baton to the next team member!

Driving your vehicle in the wrong lane can cause a catastrophic accident. We’ve all heard of head-on collisions caused by someone going the wrong way on the interstate, or someone making a turn at an intersection from a wrong lane, or horrors! Negotiating those awful round-abouts while in the wrong lane! Being in the wrong lane can cause you to trip or fall, cause someone else to trip, or possibly even cause you to lose the race altogether.

During this journey of being a widow, you will likely be presented with lots of opportunities both personally and professionally, including opportunities to serve. Your first priority is not to try to save the world by meeting all the needs that are presented to you. Your highest goal is to seek the Lord and let him guide you into the right lane. When you are correctly positioned, you will be sure to accomplish everything that He has laid out ahead of time for you to do. The Body of Christ is made up of many individuals (comparable to body parts!), and each person has a role to play so that the Kingdom of God may be advanced, and people will all be cared for. Somewhere God has positioned those who are called to meet all the other needs. Be sure you’re in your own lane!

Como siempre, sus pensamientos y comentarios son bienvenidos aquí o puede enviarme un correo electrónico a sheryl@freshhope.us. Si está buscando un nuevo propósito y un camino para seguir adelante, considere unirse a uno de nuestros grupos de Refocusing Widows, ya sea en persona o en línea. Puede registrarse en www.refocusingwidows.org/Groups. ¡Esperamos conocerle!