RUNNING WITHOUT SHOES
This morning, my nine-year-old son, Alex, was running late for school. I was yelling up the stairs for him to hurry up. Just as he hits the bottom step, the bus drives by. His bus stop is three doors down. I assume he’s going to ask me to take him to school. Instead, he grabs his backpack with one hand and his shoes with the other and tears out the front door. Running to the bus. In just his socks. And he made it. I couldn’t stop laughing. He was so focused on catching that bus. So focused, he didn’t care if his socks got dirty. Just as long as he caught that bus.
I’ve thought about this morning’s episode all day. At first, it was, “What will all the mom’s think of me? My kid running without his shoes on?” But as the day went by, I started wondering why Alex was so focused. I would’ve taken him to school if he had missed the bus. On my drive home from work, I began wondering what would happen if I became so focused, that I didn’t care what I looked like, as long as I accomplished my goal, my dream. I wondered what would happen if I was so focused on God, that nothing else mattered anymore.
During the next 15 miles, I imagined a life focused solely on what God has for me. Honestly, it was hard to wrap my mind around it. After all, I have to work, take care of my kids, and volunteer in my church. I’m going to school as well. Isn’t that what God has for me? But as I looked deeper, I remembered the dreams I’ve had. Dreams I’ve let fall to the side. After all, life is busy. Life takes money. And life sometimes makes me tired.
As the cars passed me by, and as I passed a few myself, I started thinking of David. This kid was a shepherd. He had to defend those sheep from lions and wolves. Yet, he was called to rule a kingdom. Samuel annointed him King before Saul ever left the throne. So, was David’s focus on sheep, or was it on what God told him to do? When I read of him facing Goliath, I have to believe that the only reason David was prepared to face the giant, was because his focus was on God and what God had given him to do. This Philistine was mocking Israel and David was ready to stop him. He grabbed some rocks and a slingshot and ran towards Goliath. He never stopped. At that moment, David was acting as the King he was called to be. And Goliath fell.
Now, come back to reality. Well, maybe not. Maybe I should leave reality behind. Reality would’ve told a little boy to put his shoes on and just let mom drive him to school. But, that wasn’t the goal. The goal was to catch that bus.
What is the bus I’m chasing? What is holding me back? What makes me stay behind and watch bus after bus pass me by? Fear? Uncertainty? I’m not really sure why I hold myself back. But, I can change that. I can decide to catch up with my dreams and turn them into reality.
I think I’ll throw off my shoes, the things in my life that hold me back. And I’ll run after God and the dreams He has placed in my heart. After all, who needs shoes to run?
Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong! Ephesians 3:17b, NLT
(originally May 11, 2013 · by mywildgardenblog - a previous blog)