Be Inspired, But Do Not Covet

Pursuing What Is Excellent -- Be Inspired But Do Not Covet

 

“We can be driving along just fine, effortlessly going the direction our map says to go, until someone’s shiny new ride drives BY.


There can be several things flowing through our minds at that point:
admiration. jealousy. greed. discontentment. desire. lust.

We decide to take a peek inside of what they have, setting the drift in motion! We either collide with the thing we’ve just set our affections toward (getting tangled up in something that we don’t belong in), or as we start to drift, we catch our error and over-correct, sending us completely off the right path; leaving us shaking on the side of the road wondering how we got here.
stay in your lane pwie

 

 

 

 

Our ride is all beaten up and almost unrecognizable. But we do have some of our belongings to gather from the wreckage. It may be enough to help us get back on track.

I pray that we use that experience as a reminder to stay in your lane . It’s where we’re most used for God’s glory. It’s where the way has been marked. It’s where we flourish.

[bctt tweet=”Staying in our lane assures us that we will travel at God’s pace. #stayinyourlane #donotcovet” username=”Kela__Nellums”]

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way-Psalm 37:23.”

 Psalm 37-23

 

As I wrote those words to my Instagram profile, it got another thought ball rolling.

It’s okay to admire and be inspired by someone else’s work. It can be used as an idea sparker.
What is not okay is coveting what they’ve created.
What was born from them could’ve very well been on the other side of a tremendous struggle that we’ll never taste or have to go through.
That journey is unique to them.

I do think that its okay to ask that person about their process as they began to get revelation on their season.
They’re probably more than willing to let 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 work through them.

Even in the end of all of that, we need to get to the point where we embrace our purpose.

My friend, T. H. Meyer, wrote a most fabulous book about our creativity and our purpose in it; A Life of Creative Purpose. *

She says, “You have to give yourself the chance to try, and with God’s blessing, go for it. Permission plays a part in allowing us to accept things for ourselves.”
The work of my friend is a prime example of what I’m wanting to convey. I fully and highly recommend Tammy’s book because it’s such a huge inspiration to me! Because she’s written exactly what’s on my mind and heart, I could desire what she created so deeply that I grow an unhealthy attachment to it and I get stuck in that place; that drifting out of my lane.
Her process was unique to her; her experiences, her breakthrough.

But I can take a nugget, answer a question, jot a thought and ask God to reveal what to do with it in light of my own life and goals.

He has enough material, insight, dreams, ideas, and words to impart into me that can only be said in “my voice”.
There’s room for each person to develop into our God-given making.
We ARE here to inspire one another, but not covet one another.

What has God said to you about what He wants YOU to do? Are you waiting for permission to get going? Are you looking longingly into someone else’s vehicle? Get back in your lane. No more drifting, colliding, or over-correcting.

 

Living to Worship Him,
Kela

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