I am an avid believer in staying in your lane.
This colloquialism typically means to mind your business. People often use this phrase to deter people from being nosy (which I wholeheartedly support). However, I’d like to expand this thought by taking the idea more seriously. I not only want to discourage nosiness, comparison, and covetousness, but I want to encourage people to pay closer attention to their God-given purpose and assignment (i.e. their lane).
When I say stay in your lane, I do not mean to continue in destructive or dysfunctional cycles. Instead, I am encouraging you to LISTEN to God and FOLLOW His leading for YOUR life.
Because to be honest, some of us are too focused on what other people are doing. As a result, we are missing God’s will for us.
I earnestly believe that God has a unique plan for each of our lives. While your lane in life may look similar to another person’s, God may have a different route for you. That is why it is imperative that we do not compare or attempt to assume someone else’s lane along the way. The goal should be to follow God’s plan until we reach His intended destination for us.
In today’s devotional, we are going to look at a king who lost sight of his lane and attempted to act as a priest. (If you feel so led, you may want to pull out your Bible and grab a writing utensil.)
See Related: 5 Must-Have Bible Study Tools for Women
Scripture: King Uzziah’s Story
Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jekoliah; she was from Jerusalem.
He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done.
He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success.
2 Chronicles 26:3-5 NIV
But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.
Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the Lord followed him in.
They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the Lord God.”
Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry.
While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the Lord’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the Lord had afflicted him.
King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house—leprous, and banned from the temple of the Lord. Jotham his son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land.
2 Chronicles 26:16-21 NIV
Lessons from King Uzziah’s Life
1. Seeking the Lord brings success.
King Uzziah started out well. From a young age, he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and he sought the Lord. Uzziah was
- Teachable AND
- Humbly submitted to Godly authority
You see, Uzziah was receptive to the Lord and those the Lord sent to teach him. At this stage in his life, he allowed them to mold his character.
2. Pride can cause destructive shifts.
King Uzziah stayed in his lane as king until he garnered power. The issue was not that he had power. The issue is that he allowed that power to go to his head and he became prideful. Ultimately, that pride led to his downfall.
The Oxford Dictionary defines pride as a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired. It’s interesting to me that pride is connected to focus on self and often occurs when we receive praise from others.
I like King Uzziah’s story because it is so relatable. At one time or another, we all have allowed what we have “accomplished” to puff up our heads too much. We easily find ourselves forgetting that the source of our success is the Lord.
Pride goes before destruction,
and haughtiness before a fall.Better to live humbly with the poor
than to share plunder with the proud.Those who listen to instruction will prosper;
Proverbs 16: 18-20 NLT
those who trust the Lord will be joyful.
Related article: Are You Willing to Risk It All to Follow God?
3. Faithfulness in the past is NOT a substitute for faithfulness now.
King Uzziah’s pride led to unfaithfulness. King Uzziah served the Lord in his youth, but his faithfulness in the past did not keep him faithful.
God is looking for continuous faithfulness. One thing that I’ve realized over the last couple of years is that this faith walk is in fact a WALK. It’s slow and steady. It is accomplished one step at a time. It takes a measure of patience and perseverance.
Unlike Uzziah, the way Enoch lived is a perfect example of faithfulness played out over the course of one’s life.
After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch lived in close fellowship with God for another 300 years, and he had other sons and daughters.
Genesis 5:22 NLT
It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—“he disappeared, because God took him.” For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God.
Hebrews 11:5 NLT
4. What is right for them, may not be right for YOU.
The verse that was highlighted to me most says, “They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is for the priests…”
When God shows you His purpose for your life, He will often provide Godly accountability to keep you on the right track. When that accountability comes, it is our responsibility to respond well. We respond well by accepting correction and moving accordingly.
Unfortunately, King Uzziah responded to the priests’ rebuke with anger rather than accepting that he was out of line. As a result, he had to deal with the consequences of his rebellion.
5. Don’t lose what you have, yearning for what you don’t.
Watch this. Ok, so God called Uzziah to be a king. That was his purpose on the earth, it was his unique lane! But Uzziah did not appreciate his role and made an unauthorized pivot. This choice may sound crazy to us because being a king is such an prestigious role that many people dream of.
King Uzziah stepped out of his lane as king to attempt to operate as a priest and lost the ability to act as king. He spent the rest of his life sick, secluded, and without authority.
Sounds silly, but many of us are doing the exact same thing!
God has given each of us a beautiful and uniquely crafted purpose, but we are chasing after what other people have rather than seeking the Lord regarding His plans for OUR lives. Then we wonder why we are not getting anywhere in our pursuits.
Learning to stay in your lane
How to Identify YOUR Lane?
The key to identifying your specially crafted lane is intimacy with God. When you seek Him in ALL you do, He will show you which path to take.
Seek his will in all you do,
Proverbs 3:6 NLT
and he will show you which path to take.
If you have questions, why not ask the one who knows?
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
Self-help books and motivational podcasts can only take you so far. Instead of listening to outside sources, position yourself to hear from God. He is the only one who knows the good plans He has for you. So seek Him and remain close to Him.
Related article: Make Space for Intimacy
Put on Blinders
Write this down if you need to.
Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.
For we are each responsible for our own conduct.
Galatians 6:4-5 NLT
We learn to stay in our own lanes by focusing on what God has put before us (NOT focusing on what He has put before others). In other words, YOU GOTTA PUT ON BLINDERS. As the Bible says, PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR OWN WORK. If something (or someone) is distracting you from what God is calling you to do, you have to be strong enough to cut it out or distance yourself.
Related article: Focus and Finish
What other people are doing has nothing to do with you or your life. Focusing on what others are doing wastes valuable time and keeps you from accomplishing what God has called you to do. There is nothing wrong with admiring and supporting other peoples’ gifts, talents, roles, etc. but we gotta watch ourselves so that we do not begin to covet what they have. Ok?
What God has called you to do is just as important as what He has called others to do. If God called you to be a king, be a king. If He called you to be a priest, be a priest. With it all, STAY IN YOUR LANE.
Reflection questions
- How would you describe your relationship with God right now? Would you describe yourself as faithful?
- Have you been staying in your lane or do you find yourself getting distracted and falling into comparison?
- How do you respond to Godly accountability?
- Have you sought the Lord regarding His purposes for you on the earth? What is one practical step you can take to draw closer to God this week?
- Are you staying in your lane? If not, what is influencing you to disobey the Lord?
Announcements
If you hung on until the end, God bless you! Next week, we will talk about how to be content in your lane, how to safely shift from lane to lane, and how to respond to difficulty when you’re following God’s plan for your life. Speaking of purpose, The Grace Space is back! Keep an eye out for new interviews coming soon!
Big Hugs,
Ayanna