Rules for the Road预览

Day 1: Don't Travel Alone

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, give me your eyes to see clearly my current direction in life and what course adjustments may be needed.

Reading:

Rule number one is: Don't travel alone.

You were made for community, and your life is better connected.  Don't allow yourself to get isolated during certain seasons because of past hurts. Ignore that voice in your head that says, “I don't need anybody.” You were created to operate in community, but who you do life with often determines how your life will go.

When it comes to who we do life with, we can all gravitate toward acceptance. The person or the people that accept us first can become the people we spend a season of life with. This is particularly true during transitions in life—you're leaving high school to go to college; you're leaving college to go to grad school; you're leaving grad school to start your first job; you're moving to a new city; you started a new job; you've just gotten out of a relationship and you're looking for a new relationship; or you've just gone through a divorce. 

Isn't it true that the first group of people who reach out to you and extend some sort of invitation can become the people you spend more and more time with? It feels good because you don't know anyone else, but before you know it, you are doing life with people who may not be anything like you. But you just flowed toward their acceptance.

Don't simply gravitate toward acceptance. Acceptance can be powerful. But it can also be a trap. Here’s how: The people who get on the inside of our lives will determine the direction and the quality of our lives. Look for people who share your values. A value is what you have predetermined is most important to you. Sometimes we need to move through groups of people, good people—just not the right people—to find people who share our values. When you find them, begin to do life with them. This doesn’t mean that anyone is less important, but when it comes to that inner circle that you're traveling through life with, surround yourself with people who embrace your values. 

The author of Proverbs said this:

Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.

– Proverbs 13:20

Essentially, the writer of Proverbs was saying that whoever does life with the wise automatically, over time, becomes wise. Wisdom is understanding and living as if life is connected—what happens today impacts tomorrow.  

But there's a contrast the author makes—the companion of a fool will suffer harm. A fool is someone who lives life without care or who is careless. A fool may say, “This is what I'm going to do today. I’ll worry about tomorrow later.” A fool views life as disconnected. It's interesting that the author tells us that walking with the wise will make us wise, but he doesn't say the companion of fools will become a fool. This is why giving in to the gravitational pull of a group of people can be so dangerous. If we're not careful, the companion of fools may never become a fool, but the companion of fools will suffer the same consequence as the fools they're traveling with.

Bottom line: Choose to travel with people who are taking care of themselves. Because if they're taking care of themselves, they will help you take care of yourself, and you will help them take care of themselves as well. Don't travel alone.

Reflection:

Who are you traveling through life with? Are you prioritizing connection with others or drifting towards isolation? Do the people in your inner circle share your values? What changes should you make in your life to prioritize wise voices for your life?