Stay In Your Lane
The term “stay in your lane” seems to be a popular one these days. It seems that in many contexts, it’s used in a way of challenging someone else or calling them out. On the other hand, it’s a very popular business and coaching term that can mean one’s niche or bent. I love the concept and the idea but I think there’s so much more to “staying in your lane” that’s involved. After-all, lanes are designed to move us forward safely and efficiently. Throughout this post, I’d like to walk through some of the tension to how this fleshes out.
ON RAMPS
Before we can stay in any lane much less our lane, we need to know what that lane is. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he talks about how we are God’s craftsmanship or masterpiece (depending on your translation) created for good works. What Ephesians 2:10 is telling us that you were created on purpose and with a purpose. To discover your lane I think it starts with a simple question, what do you get excited about? What gets you out of bed in the morning and jumpstarts your day? This may seem simple but there’s some truth to this. You are created with gifting and passions that are unique to you and you are that way for a reason. In much of my coaching and leadership development I use resources like spiritual gifts assessments, enneagram, and personality assessments to help people discover these things. I’ve heard it said before that if you don’t know the purpose of a tool you can only misuse it. If you haven’t discovered your lane, you will usually be in the wrong one, even to a dangerous state. If not dangerous it will change your destination or at minimum, prolong it. This is a journey that can be done with others you have around you or if you feel you have enough self-awareness (some do, many don’t) but it’s an immensely important one.
HANDS ON THE WHEEL
Recently, we bought my wife a new care. It’s a bit fancier than my truck is to say the least. If has both lane departure warning and lane correction. One day when I was driving her car I decided to put this to the test and ever so lightly took my hands off of the wheel in a slight curve. The car corrected itself and stayed in the lane but after a few moments an alert came up asking me to place my hands on the steering wheel. Wouldn’t it be nice if life did this? While life doesn’t have lane correction I do think it has departure warnings. These things often manifest themselves in tension within us or other forms of anxiety. I struggle the most with the lanes nearest mine and I believe this is probably true of others. I’m in student ministry so it can be easy for me to look into the lanes of children’s ministry or college ministry and try to “correct” or adjust something I see. That’s partly because of the connection they have with student ministry. Can I support and have honest and open conversations with those over those ministries and even help at times? Yes, absolutely. But it’s not my lane so when I get there I’m not going to have the smoothest ride.
FOLLOW THE GPS
I wanted to use “follow the map” as the heading for this section but I don’t know many people who use or even have the ability to use a map for directions. I remember days of unfolding maps or thumbing through atlases to try to find the best route to our destination. After that came MapQuest. You could type in your destination and it would give you the route but you still had to print it out and follow the turn-by-turn directions. The beauty of a GPS is that it does the hard work for you but also it’s going to give you the best route for your journey. GPS can warn you of hazards, tell you which lane you need to be in, and even redirect you if there’s a better way. I want to be very clear that I don't think your heart is your GPS and believe the idea of following your heart is among the worst advice ever probably second to you should eat that fruit. Your GPS includes your gifting and passions reigned in and submitted to authority and also people who you can trust as guides and for accountability. You’re not the only one on the roadway and when done correctly, we can all help each other reach our destinations.
LANE SHIFT AHEAD
If you’ve ever spent much time on an interstate in Louisiana you’ve driven through construction zones. Sometimes those roadways have to shift over to keep cars out of the construction lanes. In life, we go through different seasons. Some of those seasons are smooth sailing and some seasons we’re navigating hazards. Then there’s another season we navigate at some point, the lane shift. What do we do when we feel like the lane we’re in may be closing or it’s time to move into another lane. This could be a new job or assignment or just simply a new season of life. Full disclosure, I feel as though I’m in the middle of a lane change in some parts of my life. How do we navigate these moments when we feel like it’s time to change lanes? In a word, cautiously. Think about merging traffic or lane changes on highways, it has to be done carefully and with attention detail. This isn’t to say not to change boldly, especially if you know you’re supposed to change lanes. Any change or transition can come with bumps. Take your time. Do it smoothly and correctly. Remember, you’re probably not the first or only person to be in that lane of life.
I truly hope this has offered some clarity for your role and calling. Remember, stay the course, stay in your lane, you have what it takes!