Making a Mountain Out of a Boot Heel
Have you ever had to hunt through a gazillion shoes to find the mate to one? I know, I know. Some people actually organize their shoes. I’m more a “word” person than an organizer. Go ahead. Ask me to spell “organize.” I might even be able to diagram a sentence with the word “organize” in it. But to actually do the organizing? Not so much.
|
You’d think I would’ve tried it at some point through the years. But no. My shoe organization consists of a gargantuan pile in the floor of my closet. Heels, flats, boots—it’s bigger than a pile. Since I confessed my shoe-mania all through the book High Heels in High Places, no one is really surprised to find out it’s a total shoe mountain, right? |
|
Yesterday I was trying to find my black slip-ons, but one of them had definitely given me the slip. I thought surely it would be somewhere near its mate, but the first search through Mount
Ve-SHOE-vius yielded nothing but a sore elbow. It was the elbow I had to keep pressed against the closet door. All the shoes were keeping me from opening the door all the way, so I had to contort myself. It took some skill, I’m telling you. I was on my hands and knees, left elbow pressing the door, rummaging one-handed through the partial opening. It’s a good thing I played Twister as a kid. “Right hand red, left foot blue” paid off in a big way. Still I was nowhere near the summit of the mountain and still only had one of those black shoes.
I finally decided I needed to clear out the shoes so I could open the door all the way if I was going to find that shoe—without some sort of killer muscle spasm. I wormed my way through the small opening, shoved several shoes out of the way and found one of them was wedged under the door. That was the culprit. It took some doing but I wrestled it out from under the closet door, only to find (you see it coming, don’t you) that it was the black shoe I was looking for!
Isn’t that how it happens in life sometimes? We contort ourselves this way and that, avoiding what’s really getting in the way of our service for Christ. But when we finally give up and clear the way for what he wants to do in and through our lives, we find it’s exactly what we’ve been searching for all along. Surrendering to his service brings the fulfillment and satisfaction we’ve always dreamed of. Serving the Lord not only brings rewards, but it’s even a reward in and of itself. Ephesians 6:7-8 says, “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does” (NIV).
Not that we should serve just for the rewards—not even for the satisfaction or fulfillment. I doubt we even fully earn those rewards or experience that fulfillment unless we’re serving out of love for the Savior who gave himself for us.
 |
First Corinthians 6:20 says, “God paid a great price for you. So use your body to honor God” (CEV).
Since Jesus paid the price with his own blood, we are his. Paul said, “Now you belong to him who was raised from the dead in order that we might be useful in the service of God” (Romans 7:4, TEV). |
Clear the way—get rid of any hindrance to serving Christ. What joy there is in committing your life to his service. I’ll even venture to say it’s exactly what you’re looking for!
I want to head in the direction of joy by pointing my feet in whatever direction of service he sends. Even if my shoes don’t match.
|
|
