I prefer to write at home in the quiet and stillness of the morning, but sometimes, like right now, it’s not possible, so I find myself writing with lots of things going on around me because somehow it feels as if these words need to be put on paper.
This morning, as I was walking to work, a habit I’ve developed over the last few years, I looked over at another pedestrian’s feet and he was wearing sneakers. When I know I’m going to the gym, I prefer to wear my sneakers as well, so I have one less thing to carry around. I looked down at my feet, and they were clad in a relatively new pair of boots. And it made me think back to a not so long time ago. When I first bought them, with the intention of wearing them to work, as I was rushing out the door one morning, I stuck my feet in my brand new boots and had to quickly take them off. They were super tight (I hadn’t tried them in the store). I didn’t have time to investigate but I was sure I had picked up the right size.
I thought of my really nice, inexpensive boots and determined that I needed to return them, because if there was one thing I did not like: an uncomfortable pair of shoes/boots. I’m usually trying to do multiple things when I get home, so I completely forgot about the boots until a few days later, when I was again rushing out the door, and decided to try again. This time they fit, relatively comfortably. Hmmm. What happened? I’m not sure, I’m just happy I do not need to return them.
As I’ve worn them for the better part of the last month, this morning I realized something. As uncomfortable as they were in the beginning and I was getting used to them, the more I wore them, the better they fit. For me, I’ve found the same to be true of God’s words. In the beginning, and sometimes, even now, it’s been easier to read a devotion with just one verse, as opposed to reading a whole chapter of the bible. But as time has passed, it’s gotten more comfortable to read the bible. Does that make me a theologian? Very very far from that. There are lots of parts of the bible that I do not understand, and I’m more likely to gloss over, i.e. please do not ask me any genealogy questions from the bible. My aunt told me a long time ago, before I opened God’s words, to pray for guidance that He will open my mind to receive the message that He has in store for me. It’s been an uncomfortable stretching process, but one that has gotten more comfortable the longer I’ve used my bible.
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your words of wisdom from the bible. Help us to not lose hope when we open your words and do not understand what we are reading, but to trust that You can open our hearts and minds and provide wisdom and understanding beyond our wildest dreams. Also, help us to not lean on our understanding, but to acknowledge you in everything we do.