The Shoes of God

 
Sometimes we ridicule our own hope for happiness, questioning our right to receive life’s blessings, God’s gifts.  In times of change it’s easy to overlook the blessings that accompany us through the day and into the night. When change comes, whether by choice or brought on by circumstances, it’s easy to question God’s presence. My response to changes that fall under the categorical heading – This is a Good Thing – is to ask, okay, what’s the catch?  Change, the older I get, is always accompanied by stress and I find myself waiting for the other shoe to drop. But, the other shoe all ready dropped when God moved into my heart. He sat on the couch, took both His shoes off, settled back, put His feet up on the coffee table and said, “I will never leave you.” As Thanksgiving approaches, I can’t help but look back over the year. If there is one word that could describe the past several months, it is the word, change. Changes that had me looking around and asking, hey God, are your shoes still here?
Over the year, due to the economy downturn, I had to close down a company that I presided over in the role of vice president, lost the use of a car – meaning I had no transportation, I downsized, moved, my son moved out of state, I broke an ankle, I lost a close personal friendship, the hard drive on my laptop crashed and I lost a manuscript, along with several devotionals, and recently – searching for fulltime employment – moved again. While I recognize that I have not suffered the laments commonly found in country/western music, it is still no wonder that, on occasion, I’ve gone looking for the shoes of God.
Shortly after the move, I was reading the story of Lazarus and happened on the prayer of Jesus. After the stone covering the tomb of Lazarus had been rolled away, Jesus looked up and prayed this prayer: “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me (John 11:41-42, NIV).” How simple. He thanked the Father for always hearing Him. He counted the gift, the blessing before it was evidenced. I thought about my own prayer life and realized that over time I may have missed the blessings by looking only at the lack. That day I made a list of the blessings. They are as follows: my son is moving home to attend college here in Angwin, I now have a car, my laptop has been repaired, God is still sharing His devotionals with me, I have a circle of friends in the area that I’ve performed weddings and baptisms for over the years, worked closely with in ministry and education, and even one or two with whom I attended high school, I have a quaint little home and I am fortunate in that I am able to decorate and paint as I see fit, I have a few employment possibilities, I have been teaching a class on the life of Christ at the college, my ankle is healing and I’ve been able to limp a four mile walk each day, my mother is coming to visit and last, but not least, I am surrounded by the beauty of God’s creation.
Each day the shoes of God are still visible and, if I take the time to look, so are the blessings. Some days those blessings are small and other days they are large. Either way, like David I can say, “When I awake, I am still with you (Ps. 139:18, NIV).”
 
~ Pastor Al