The New Shoes

I bought a new pair of shoes a few months back. We were going away for a multiple-day business event and I wanted to look great; these new shoes completed the outfits I planned to wear. Now I know from experience that the first few outings with a pair of new shoes – particularly dress shoes – can be difficult. The shoes will be tight, they will create pressure points, and I will finish the evening with a few sore toes and maybe even a blister or two.

Knowing this, I should have purchased the shoes ahead of time so I could “break them in.” Since I didn’t, I promised myself that I would live with whatever pain came my way on the trip, and I packed lots of band aids so I would be ready.

What a price I paid! Knowing my weak spots, I put on some band aids the first day, even before any blisters appeared. But after just one hour my feet were asking to get those shoes off. I endured. A few hours later, they were swelling. It felt like my feet were begging to get out of the shoes. I endured.

At the end of that first day, my feet almost cried as I released them from their prison of pain. They wiggled, they spread, they did toe-touches to the floor – life was good for my feet!

But then came the second day and it was time to get back in the shoes. A few toes were okay – hardly murmuring at all. But one toe in particular had developed a blister, and even with two band aids in place, it was not a happy camper. It was really an endurance contest…and I wondered who was going to win: the toes begging for relief? Or the person who owned the toes (me)?

I decided to try and ignore the pain and discomfort, and I pressed on. I walked everywhere I needed to go during the meetings. I almost gave up, but I kept telling myself, “you’ve come this far…keep going.” So I went on…me and my aching toes…walking and hurting.

By the third day, things were a little easier. The blister wasn’t worse and the other toes were learning to deal with a little toe pinching. The shoes were starting to stretch and become more comfortable. So, by the time the meetings finished and we returned home, the shoes were fine and my toes were fine. I could walk without pain.

So the end result was wonderful, but the process was not easy. And much of the pain was self-inflicted.

This experience mirrors how I often have felt during this past year. God has been asking me to make some important life changes, such as learning to slow down and wait upon Him. In essence, He is asking me to “put on some new shoes”. In response, I have had to develop some new perspectives and learn how to respond in some new ways. These changes have not always been easy. Along the way, I’ve developed some emotional and spiritual “blisters”; some of them self-inflicted.

It’s always tempting to want to remove the pain by giving up. But – just as I must keep wearing the new shoes until they are comfortably broken in – I also must keep pressing on with God until the new habits He wants to instill are a comfortable and ongoing part of my life.

All of this takes time, and helps me understand why God sometimes moves more slowly than I would like. There is just no quick way to break in a new pair of shoes, just as there is no quick way to become a more faithful and mature follower of Jesus.

- Julie