Staying in the Lane
When I was learning to drive, one of my first problems was learning to stay in the lane. First it would be, ‘you’re too close to the gutter!’ Then, ‘you’re too close to the centre!’
The instructing person (usually one of my parents) would get progressively more agitated that I wasn’t heeding their warnings. I would be checking each side, thoroughly confused as to what I was doing wrong and how to get it right.
My first professional instructor was even less helpful. She said, ‘Bronwyn, you look but you don’t see. You listen but you don’t hear.’ Finally, one day I yelled at her: ‘I don’t know what I am meant to be seeing or hearing! Stop telling me that and just tell me something helpful!’
After that I changed driving instructors.
The second instructor tried to give me points on the car bonnet to match up with lines on the road so that I would know when I was in the right spot. Unfortunately my line of sight was different to his and then when I got in another car all the points were different anyway. After I told him I wanted to learn manual he sent me to a different instructor.
This third instructor could see I was checking the gutter and the centre line and trying to keep in lane but doing a terrible job of it. So, he said, ‘Look up to where you want to be.’ Rather than checking side to side, just keep focused on the goal. When I did this, my driving improved without having to think about staying in the lane. This simple advice changed everything.
Learning to drive on the road of life can be like this too. We are told to stay the course. We are given rules and guides to follow: Don’t swear. Don’t listen to that music. Don’t eat that food. Don’t drink that drink. Go to Sabbath School. Go to small group. Teach the lesson. Look at that person; be like them. Read your Bible every day. Make sure you journal. Are you having your quiet time?
The advice is given with the right heart but it doesn’t mean it’s easy. We follow one bit of advice but then forget another bit and make a different mistake. We are busy trying to pin each behaviour down but can’t seem to get to the heart of the problem. The answer is simple: Look up to where you want to be.
The Bible says, “Look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.” Heb 12:2.
Look up and see Jesus – our Goal. Instead of looking at others, looking at our failures, or looking at worldly measures of success, look at Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.
Spending time in contemplation, being with Jesus, sensing His presence and absorbing His grace and love is changing me. I am not there yet but the more I do this the less I focus on all the wrong things: regrets, grudges, failures, ‘keeping up with the Joneses’, self. When life gets me down, I remember: Look up to where you want to be. This gets the driving on track.