I’m a hypocrite, I’m a sinner, and I’m a child of God. It took me A LOT of years to become un-christ-like, and putting expectations on myself to be an instant Christian is both defeating and unrealistic. I’m learning to walk this new daily journey with my Savior. I’m learning to savor the moments as I wait in expectation for Him to show me as I’m ready, when I utter the words, “What’s next, Lord”? I’m learning to trust on a whole other level in faith over fear. To be more connected in the way I should go.
The other day, even though I looked at my shoe, I still put it on the wrong foot. If you’ve also done that, you know it’s a pretty awkward and uncomfortable feeling. I laughed at myself, because well, 56 years old and still putting the shoe on the wrong foot. Ha!
As a child, I wouldn’t have cared. Just watch any child learning to put their shoes on and see what they do. Typically, they’ll put them on all willy, nilly and despite them being on the wrong feet, they just take right off. Me? I’d probably look like one of those dogs someone just put booties on before I fell over.
My point here is, I know better. I know what it feels like to have the shoe on the wrong foot. I know there would be consequences if I wore that shoe on the wrong foot for hours, let alone, days. It would most likely, result in some type of pain, somewhere.
Doing things against our grain, when we know deep inside “this is not for me,” will always end in some type of pain. Maybe not right away, but it’s coming. The longer we entertain the “this is not for me,” the harder it will be to end it. We do nothing more than prolong the agony of the inevitable. We sit in dread, we have conversations in our head that will most likely never come to pass and we second guess our very existence and worst yet, we settle.
We become comfortably, uncomfortable in the yuck. We say things like, “this is as good as it’s gonna get,” or “it is, what it is,” and my favorite, “I guess this is what I deserve.” All of these statements rob you of hope and any expectation that anything good can happen.
We become numb to our surroundings and wonder why we keep lashing out irrationally at the tiniest of things. It’s as if someone put an invisible pebble in your shoe and no matter how hard you try, you can’t seem to stop the pain or locate the source. You wonder, “Why is this happening to me”? You yell at God, “Don’t you see me writhing in anguish?” “How could you let this happen?” You may even say, “psshhtt, some god you are”, and then turn your back on him, forgetting the only reason you’re here is by His grace, mercy, and great love for you.
God gave us all free will. It means, we always have a choice. You put the shoe on the wrong foot and you either kept going, or you corrected it. Sometimes our biggest messes come from choosing to keep the wrong shoe on for far longer than we should.
Was it God’s fault you made that choice? Or is it too bitter of a pill to swallow knowing the only one to blame is you for ignoring all the signs?
Friend, God didn’t let you down, you let you down. Ouch, I know. Been there, done that, faced that, beat what negative crap came with that back down into the ground from which it came.
Obviously what I’m talking about here is what you choose, not what others choose to do to you. Having lived a great deal of my life with the shoe on the wrong foot, I know what it’s like to disregard all the warning signs. Why would I do that? I’m so glad you asked. Quite frankly, I wanted, what I wanted. The unfortunate thing is when I make my choices based on what I want, it may not be at all, what I need. I choose my feelings and comfort over necessity because I want, what I want when I want it.
Here’s a simple example. I love to craft and make my own hand made cards. There are hundreds of crafting companies out there vying for my attention. I could literally go broke buying all the glittery things.
But, let’s say I’ve decided to get out of debt. Getting out of debt is a good thing! It’s a necessity if I want to avoid paying high-interest rates or ruining my credit rating; pretty much just giving my hard-earned money away to someone else.
Again, because I want, what I want, when I want it, I impulsively buy way more crafting supplies than I need and I charge it, completely disregarding the fact I said I wanted to get out of debt. I can pretty much rationalize any choice I make, just ask me.
Confession time. I’ve actually purchased the same exact things, forgetting I already had them in my possession. And sadly, I’ve done it more than once. Ugh!
I made a choice. I got the stuff, but I also got the buyer’s remorse that came along with it. That’s not a good a deal. There’s a saying, “A fool and his money are soon parted.” Sound familiar?
But was it God’s fault? Ummm, no. There are plenty of warnings in the Bible about the way we should go. As an example, let’s look at 1Timothy 6:9-10:
“But people who long to be rich soon begin to do all kinds of wrong things to get money, things that hurt them and make them evil-minded and finally send them to hell itself. For the love of money is the first step toward all kinds of sin. Some people have even turned away from God because of their love for it, and as a result, have pierced themselves with many sorrows.” (TLB)
These warnings are not so you won’t enjoy your life, they’re warnings to help keep you from regretting your life and stealing from the good and abundant things God so freely gives.
How can we get the good and abundant things God so freely gives? Great question! You have a choice. Who didn’t see that coming? Ha!
Let’s go back to putting the wrong shoe on and how awkward and uncomfortable that feels. That’s how a wrong decision will sit with you.
It won’t bring you peace. It will make you question yourself, your morals and integrity. You may feel the need to hide or be sneaky in what you’re about to do. You’ll try to justify the wrong feelings away, but it will keep eating away at your peace. You’ll no doubt hate that you compromised yourself, and you’ll mentally beat yourself up for not having any self-control. And, it will most assuredly cause angst. None of these is a good thing. #Yikes
When you make choices based on the leading of the Holy Spirit, (putting the shoe on the right foot) we produce the good abundant things that God promises; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. – (Galatians 5:22-23)
All of those are good things. And when we do good things, we feel better and are able to help others feel better. Peace and joy are infectious and you’re worthy of them.
So, the moral of the story, make good choices and put that right that wrong shoe. And even if things don’t turn out the way you thought or wanted, at least you will have done what you know good to do. And no one can take that away from you!
Have an amazing day. It’s brand new and if you’re still here, you have a purpose, you matter, and you’re already all you need to be!
Thanks for stopping by,
Trish
Blessed to be Broken 
Great post! I know when I make the wrong decisions, and then instead of repenting and surrendering I keep moving forth with it, I have so much unease within my soul. The more I’ve grown to know how unconditionally loving my God is, the easier it has been to repent when the Holy Spirit checks me. God is so good to us! ❤
I agree with you Donna! Despite ourselves, He still loves us! When we repent, and ask for forgiveness our Heavenly Father is still there waiting and can take those broken bits and pieces and use it all for His glory! 🙌🏼❤️