leading the way: an essay on the importance of role models
The first real snow of the year hit my hometown this past week. And if you’ve ever driven a vehicle in Canada during the winter, you know what this means: White-knuckling your steering wheel while your wipers angrily swipe snow away at top speed. Conditions often necessitate driving a little under the speed limit because you can’t see where the road ends and the ditch begins!
The snow is remarkably beautiful, a thick, white bandage covering the dead brown landscape. But it is also terrifying trying to navigate a snow-covered highway in the dark as a blizzard turns the falling snow into a hyperdrive simulator.
There’s nothing quite like a snow-covered road that elicits terror in my heart. I’m not normally an anxious driver, but in wintry conditions, I clutch the steering wheel like my life depends on it, my entire body tensed for the worst.
If you’re the first one to drive down an unplowed road, it can be pretty daunting. The snow is blinding, erasing depth perception, making the ditch seem level with the road—especially in the dark. You have to drive slowly to ensure you remain on the road.
But what a difference, what a glorious difference it makes when someone (or perhaps many someones) has travelled the road before you!
These voyageurs leave tire tracks in the freshly-fallen snow, clearly marking a path to follow like a breadcrumb trail.
Sometimes, these forerunners may slide a little, indicating a slippery spot to any latecoming drivers.
Sometimes, they may spin out of control and into the ditch, a warning sign to those who follow in their tracks.
Sometimes their tracks are straight and true, and you can trust they will guide you safely to your destination.
As I was driving to work early on Tuesday morning, following in the tracks of a driver who had traversed the same road only minutes earlier, it got me thinking: How crucial it is to have friends, teachers, mentors, or guides to go before us, showing us how to live, grow, and thrive!
If you’ve been following along with my posts this year, you’ll know that my mantra, snipped from the pages of a magazine, is “You can’t do something like this alone.” I wish I had learned this truth earlier in my life. We are dependent on God, but He has created us to need community, which requires a togetherness that is becoming uncommon in our world today.
As believers, our ultimate role model is Jesus, of course, but I believe God often shows us who He is through the people who love Him.
Consider Ephesians 5:1-2, which says,
“Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God” (NLT).
And of course, Hebrews 10:24-25,
“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (NKJV).
Who are the forerunners of the faith in your life, friend? Who is leading the way for you, showing you a clear path, like tire tracks in the snow?
I have several dear and wonderful friends who encourage me and lead the way for me. Among these are my mum, Merryl, and my dear friend Kristine. I trust these women deeply because I have seen them walk in valleys and on mountaintops with grace and faithfulness. I experience their unconditional love for me. They take time to encourage me and to teach me.
It’s likely that you have some people like this in your life, too. If you don’t, I encourage you to look at the people you know and ask yourself, “who can I learn from?”
It’s also likely that you are a forerunner for someone, too! Don’t take this responsibility lightly. Pour your wholehearted efforts into this relationship. If you’re tired, allow me to encourage you with Galatians 6:9,
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Allow God to fill you up with the strength you need. Because, while you may not be up for the task at hand, God is, and He will equip you for the things He calls you to do.
Take some time this week to write a role model a little note of thanks this week. We really need each other, and God often uses our encouragements to bless others at just the right moment.
And if you do have one of these “forerunners,” gently guiding you by modeling a path to follow, chase after them. Life is so much easier when you do it in community, learning and growing from those around you! Take it from someone who is slowly recovering from the need to do it all myself: you can’t do something like this alone… and it’s a whole lot more fun to do it in community!
