Stay in Your Lane.

“Stay in your lane.”These words reverberated through my being today as I was praying about what to submit this month—the same words that captivated me several years ago in a dream that stuck with me.I will never forget what it felt like to wake up the next day. I just kept hearing them: “Stay in your lane! Stay in your lane! Stay in your lane!” A man was yelling it over and over again to me as I tried to take a shortcut as I swam through a lake for a triathlon. I was going to abandon a bunch of other young women in the process to try to make it easier for myself because I was scared of the dark, and it was dusk. Instead, I kept swimming where I was supposed to, with the women, after I heard the man. There was a lot more to the dream than that, but that was the gist.Ambition is what fuels me. It always has, and I’m always looking for ways to more efficiently accomplish my goals. A major factor for that in my life is time because it really never feels like I have enough. At the time that I had the dream, it meant little more to me than convincing me not to dropout of high school to go to a missions school. It’s comical now, but I was legitimately considering doing that at the time, and that dream actually convinced me not to (also, praise God that my mother is a wise woman). Yet now, on the cusp of 21, facing the waves of adulthood, I feel the phrase resonating more and more deeply within me every time I hear or think of it. What I could dismiss as a high school pizza dream, I find deeply spiritual today.I believe that a primary hazard for so many young adults in today’s world is selfish ambition. Paul warned the Philippians against it in chapter 2 verses 3 and 4. “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”Selfish ambition is a dead-end road. Pride abandons our brother in pursuit of the prize. Self-absorption builds a lonely empire with no one to rule other than yourself. Like the metaphor in my dream, leaving people behind is the opposite of what we are called to do. Staying in our lane looks like embodying the character of Christ—clothing ourselves with patience, neglecting fear, and choosing others as we walk the walk—or swim the swim, if you will. Staying in our lane looks like not being intimidated by the length between now and the finish line. Staying in our lane looks like listening to the voice of correction when it comes, and trusting that the Holy Spirit will speak to us the way we know how to hear when we need to get back on the path. Staying in our lane looks like not making decisions based on what we think would be best for ourselves, but submitting our desires to God and trusting the way that He leads.So friends, be encouraged. Just as I felt God remind me of this phrase that has so affected my life today, let it sink into your heart, too. Know that it takes little effort beyond trusting. Goodness, I know that’s not always easy. But, stay in your lane. Whatever that looks like for you, whether it be in your relationship, studies, or workplace—God is God. You can trust Him. He will lead you to where you need to go, and in the timing that is best. *cue Dory* Just keep swimming.words by Olivia Douglas and photo by Sara Beth Pritchard