Image From The Closet Lady.com
This week’s post is the first in a two part series. The second part will be the September 10th 2004 post on Team Swap. Neither is long, but they are connected.
Our shoes are symbols of how we live and what we do. If you go to the closet of most people you will find several pair and a wide variety of shoes and boots. Some old, some new, some dirty, some clean, and some specific uses (cleats, work boots, wet weather boots, old shoes just for yard work, etc). We all have different shoes for different occasions and duties. Personally, I am not a very formal guy so I only have one pair of good dress shoes (funerals, weddings, special occasions). They are black, good brand (i.e. comfortable) and I bought them on sale, so they are perfect for me. I own a few other pairs of descent shoes, I own are a good pair of running shoes (which I wear 80+% of the time - including to work), a pair of black Doc Martens, and a pair of leather work shoes that currently need cleaning. In addition there are two pair of work boots, a few misc pair of assorted old boots (light hikers, brown leather work etc), lots of old running shoes, a few pair of sport specific shoes (cycling shoes, soccer cleats, basketball shoes) and a few pairs of shoes and boots that I have no idea why or how I got them.
I point this variety of shoes out to say that most of us have a wide variety of shoes, and no matter the occasion or need we are ready. Like most people, the flexibility and variety of my shoes represents a part of my personality, ready and willing for anything. The majority of my shoes are casual, functional and comfortable, which is my lifestyle. My sister in law probably owns 50 pair of heels and boots (all dressy and fashionable), and one pair of running shoes. That is her lifestyle - social, hip and single. Our shoes do tell a lot about our worlds, and who we are, they speak to both our personality and our lifestyle. I am sure if you look at the shoes in your own closet you will find that a similar representation of your personality and lifestyle can be found in your closest too. The shoes in your family and friends closets speak to their roles, personalities, and lifestyles as well.
I once heard a salesman say that he only looked at two things on a potential client - their shoes and their watch. In his mind those two things tell you all you need to know about the person. The shoes tell you what they do, and how they live, the watch tells you how successful they have been at it. Interesting idea, and one that I will simply leave you to ponder on your own as I have on my own. However, the idea that our shoes speak to how we are perceived is key to this note.
In the addition to perception, we must also wear shoes that are situationally appropriate. If you go shopping for a expensive car, and your shoes are filthy work boots you are unlikely to receive good service. If you are at a rodeo in flip flops everyone knows this is not your normal weekend activity. If you show up at track meet in dress shoes you would be judged as being foolish. If we go to a job interview for a public sales position with dirty shoes we are likely to not get hired. So much of our ability to perform and flourish is determined by having the correct shoe for that activity. The fact that our shoes, and how they perform / look, say so much about us tells me that our “spiritual shoes” probably also say a lot about us as well.
All Christians are called to serve, and to serve properly we need to be wearing the right shoes for what we are called to do. Unfortunately, many times we do not do a good job of having on the right shoes to serve at that time, or we have one pair of spiritual shoes that we like so well that we only wear them. There are people in the body of Christ that only wear their spiritual work boots, and they wear them all the time. They never enjoy the blessing of a special occasion with God. They toil for God, never understanding that it is not just labor that we are called to. There are also people within the body that only wear formal (Sunday meeting and such) spiritual shoes. They never venture into the world of labor for the Lord. Some only wear spiritual running shoes, and they sprint for one place to another, never really dwelling anywhere for long and never fully completing their duties there. There are also those that have good shoes, but they need to clean them up a bit where they are able to enter more places for the Lord. Some even wear different shoes for every event, but they just show up with the wrong pair of event shoes on most of the time. My point in this is like our closet of physical shoes we all have a variety of spiritual shoes as well. These spiritual shoes give us a the ability to function and perform the various duties and opportunities that arise in our spiritual life.
God equips us with all the shoes (tools, skills, abilities, knowledge, wisdom and guidance) we need, and He tells us which pair of spiritual shoes we need to be wearing at the moment. However we many times miss God’s shoe memo, because are not paying attention or because we just chose to ignore it. Many of us fall into the habit of wearing the same pair all the time, and never venturing into the rest of spiritual shoe closet. That is not the call or way of the God of creation. He gave us all power to command legions of angels, we are all spiritually gifted, we all have the same fruits of the spirit, and we are all coheirs to Heaven. None of that is designed to give us the narrow or laser focus within the body that some aspire too.
Today I am praying that we all learn to dig a bit deeper into the spiritual shoe closet and find the specific spiritual shoes we need today to accomplish what God has for us. We may discover that the right shoes for today are in good shape still, but they need a bit of cleaning before we head out. We may discover an unopened shoe box with a brand new pair of shoes for us today because the last pair of that style is a bit worn and we need a replacement pair. Hopefully we will not discover a pair of unused shoes that have been sitting in our closet for years unused. The real key is not to worry about if the shoes are there, or even if they are what we would choose for ourselves, but to trust God in what He has already given us (we will never be unprepared or alone when we are with God), and to follow Him where He leads.
Next week - what we do with all the shoes boxes that we have.
