The Sand In Our Shoes
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin Articles, uncategorizedImagine the obstacles a person would have to overcome to walk from New York City to San Francisco. A man who once accomplished this feat, was asked about his biggesthurdle. He said that the toughest part of his trip wasn’t walking up the mountains or crossing hot, dry, barren stretches of desert. “The thing that came the closest to defeating me,” he admitted, “was the sand in my shoes.”
This story reminds me of how we can be spiritually defeated by what begins as a little irritant. We let an unkind word, a small setback, or a misunderstanding get us down. Or we allow people around us to influence us in little but wrong ways. Instead of being determined to avoid evil — whether big or small (Proverbs 4:14-27), we compromise. We neglect to go to the Lord for forgiveness and help (Psalm 51:1-3; Isaiah 55:7; Psalm 46:1).
Sir Francis Drake, the 16th-century English explorer, was crossing the Thames River when a violent storm threatened to capsize his boat. He cried, “Shall I who have endured the storms of oceans be drowned in a ditch?”
We would be wise to ask ourselves this question: “Shall we, who have come so far by faith, be defeated by sand in our shoes?” Our answer must be a resolute No! (cf. 2 Timothy 4:7-8).