“Stay in your own lane. Run your own race.”

A thought by Max Lucado (2015-09-15) from his book, Glory Days: Living Your Promised Land Life Now (p. 147). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Now Max is not talking about being on the 101 headed to my wife’s work each morning.  I do change lanes to get there.  No, he’s talking about being the you that you were created to be.

He gives an illustration, “A little boy named Adam wanted to be like his friend Bobby. Adam loved the way Bobby walked and talked. Bobby, however, wanted to be like Charlie. Something about Charlie’s stride and accent intrigued him. Charlie, on the other hand, was impressed with Danny. Charlie wanted to look and sound like Danny. Danny, of all things, had a hero as well: Adam. He wanted to be just like Adam. So Adam was imitating Bobby, who was imitating Charlie, who was imitating Danny, who was imitating Adam. Turns out, all Adam had to do was be himself.” 

Max goes on, “Nothing good happens when you compare and compete. God does not judge you according to the talents of others. He judges you according to yours. His yardstick for measuring faithfulness is how faithful you are with your own gifts. You are not responsible for the nature of your gift. But you are responsible for how you use it.”

Now, this morning I was changing lanes and so was another person and it just happened to be the same lane.  I caught it in time and slowed down.  We made it to Margaret’s work with no problem.

So how are you doing in your own lane?