Walking Taller

Ephesians 6:15 - For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.

The peace that God gives, can't be found anywhere else.  The peace we find in the Gospel can, and will, sustain us through anything if we stay focused on Him.

We find this promise of peace in Jesus' words in John's Gospel account.  Jesus said, "The peace I give is a gift the world cannot give" (John 14:27).  Now that's real supply and demand for you.  You can't get it anywhere else, so you have to come to the only One that has it.  But the real kicker is that it's free!  God gives it freely and abundantly.  The cost was already paid at a very high price.

When I came across this passage about the shoes, it got me to thinking about what do shoes do for us.  Well they protect our feet when we walk.  They make us a little taller, although some people like my sister are kind of beyond help in that area.  They make things more comfortable for us when we are walking or running.

Ever have an uncomfortable pair of shoes?  I sure have.  They really can make your life uncomfortable and down right miserable sometimes.  However, a really good pair of shoes that are really comfortable feel so good.  You feel like you're walking on pillows and walking a little taller than normal.  That's how the Good News of Christ can make us feel.

I really stink at memorizing Bible verses.  I don't know why, I just am.  There are a few that I do have memorized, although I'm sure if I were quizzed on them, I would probably still get the wording in some of them at least partly wrong.  When I do, I tend to feel a bit uncomfortable about it, because I know God is everywhere, and He knows how much time I spend with Him every day, and I still struggle to get the words right sometimes.  I can picture Him watching me and saying, "Really?!" (I doubt He would say that, but who could blame Him if He did).

Although when I find myself getting upset or my stress levels start to rise, I shift my focus to Him, and all of a sudden I can focus on passages that I've never memorized that will really calm me down.  Passages like Matthew 6:31-34, where Jesus promises that God will always provide for us as long as we remember to seek His Kingdom and righteousness first.  Now, of course my focus should have been on Him in the first place, but I am human after all, and my mind does drift sometimes.  I have a tendency just like anyone else to let the cares of the world invade my thinking.

But when I do shift my focus back to Him, and take a minute to say a prayer to calm me down, and think about the promises of peace that He gives us, I feel so much better.  I feel like I'm walking taller in His rest and comfort that God has graciously and abundantly promised to provide.

Dear Father, thank You for Your promises of peace, comfort, and rest.  I cannot find what You have anywhere else, and I don't want to look anywhere else either.  I pray for my focus to be on You so that I can keep the cares and problems of this world away from my heart, and that only Your word and Your love will be there.  I pray for those that don't have that sort of peace.  My prayer is that they will open their Bibles today, and see what You have for them, and will find the rest and comfort they have been searching for, for so long.  In Jesus' name, Amen!



God Bless!!!