My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26, TLV
Stay in Our Lane. Well, I had another birthday. A big one. Each year, as I get older hopefully, I’m getting wiser. As my skin no longer resists gravity, my hearing is less acute, and clearly my arms have shortened because reading has become more difficult, I look at others my age and see how great they look. How active they are. Surrounded by family.
The writer of this psalm bemoans the wicked who have no cares — seemingly — and make sport of the writer’s shortcomings. But worse, they mock God and the psalmist’s faith. So, where does the writer land?
Whom have I in heaven but You?
On earth there is none I desire besides You. (vs. 25, TLV)
We all make decisions — hopefully guided by the Holy Spirit — that 
set us on a certain path. What that terrain looks like will be different than others’ choices. And that’s okay. Who wouldn’t want a “perfect” life, family, body, marriage, job, house and the list goes on. But we have a Father that sees. He sees us, individually and loves us for who we are: His redeemed child.
Stay in our lane …
There’s a saying I repeat to myself, “Stay in your own lane, Terri!” Trusting our Father that our path is our path is difficult sometimes, isn’t it? When we tumble into envy and frustration with ourselves, and God, is when we pay more attention to others’ paths and not our own. The thing is, we were built for our path, not theirs.
As we close 2023 and ponder the last twelve months, I’m sure we can find plenty of areas that we’d like to improve. But let’s not compare our lacks and wants with others’ who have seemingly succeeded. Let’s work with the Holy Spirit to change, move forward, or deepen the areas that are between us and our Father. Let Him be the strength of our heart and our motivation.
