When I buy a new pair of shoes, I do everything in my power to keep them clean. For as long as possible, I always avoid wearing them in the rain, walking in dirt/mud, or taking them off when I feel the conditions have become to dangerous. I know, I know this sounds tedious, but I really enjoy having a fresh and clean pair of shoes.They smell good, they’re appropriate to wear to nice places, you can wear them inside and not worry about people freaking out about what’s on your feet. New shoes are the best. I’ve come to miss this since being on the race. It has only been about two months and all three pairs of my shoes would now be considered socially unacceptable in the United States. You can smell them two rooms down and the only way to prevent them from stinking anymore would be to burn them in a huge fire. I think you get the point now, my shoes are bad. However, now that they’ve been worn and broken in, I’m willing to do anything in them, to go anywhere, to get them dirty and wet. After all, that’s what they are meant for. Why would I be so careful as to not let my footwear serve it’s purpose, to take me all over the world?
Ephesians 6:15 tells us that “as shoes for your feet…put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.” A couple of weeks ago, when I read through this verse, I skimmed over it as one that I’ve known for a long time. For some reason I thought that I had already come to an understanding of what God wanted to tell me through it, as I unfortunately tend to do with Scripture sometimes. However, Papa wasn’t about to let me miss out on the good stuff. During our debrief in Jaco, my squad leader Kevin gave a word on the Armor of God (Ephesians 6.10-20) and it was a revelation to me.
During this time, God began to show me the importance of willingness. Willingness to go anywhere, anytime, under any circumstance for the gospel. Christ has revealed to us this mystery, the gospel, and it functions just like a pair of shoes does: it takes us places. For too long I was trying to keep my shoes clean and fresh, but that’s not what Christ died for. His gospel, the news of life in Him, is meant to get dirty, to go to the dangerous parts of the world, to stand in the mud with the poor, to walk the streets with prostitutes and drunks and addicts. The gospel of Jesus Christ takes us into places that are scary, sketchy, or in the world’s eyes even unacceptable. Here’s the best part, these dangerous shoes are not just my size. They are a one size fits all pair of Jesus sandals that every believer wears. But, even though they take us out of security, they posses peace. “The gospel of peace” not of fear or worry.
Throughout the past couple of weeks, Holy Spirit has really been working this on my heart. Am I willing to go where my life is not safe, where my health is threatened, where my reputation could be damaged? Do I have the willingness to let go of my safe and clean bubble in order to advance the Kingdom? The only correct response to Holy Spirit is to lean into him. So while I have no clue what that looks like, I do know this: in everything He is good.
