A Mile in These Shoes?

Have I ever told you about the time I really felt like God wanted me to wear high heels to church? I was headed to the evening service and walking out the door wearing a nice pair of loafers. There was nothing wrong with those shoes they matched my outfit. They were very comfortable. They were sensible, if my car broke down I would have to walk (this was before cell phones) and I never have relished the idea of walking a mile in heels. I liked those loafers and had worn them to church many times before -- but that day every time I looked at my feet I felt unsettled in my spirit. I tried to ignore it.

Sitting in the car ready to go I saw my foot on the gas pedal.


I went back in the house and changed my shoes.

And I prayed, sort of. "Lord," I said. "You'd better have a good reason for wanting me to wear these stupid shoes. And you'd better not let the car break down, because if I have to walk a mile in these heels, you'll be hearing from me at every step -- and it won't be praise Lord."

Why did God want me to wear high heels to church?

You're waiting for me to explain that those shoes started a conversation with a stranger and opened the door to share the message of Christ with a seeker, that has happened before but not this time. Did those shoes make me the right height to look someone in the eye and challenge a false theology? I've had that happen too, but that's not the story I'm telling. This time, those shoes, didn't even make me tall enough to reach down a toy from the nursery shelf so a child would stop crying.

So now you're waiting for me to say the car broke down, or I ran out of gas, or something happened and I had to walk a mile in those heels. But it didn't.

So what happened? Nothing happened.

Nothing happened other than that I obeyed what I felt God wanted me to do. Without knowing the reason, and knowing only that it did not violate any principle of Scripture to do so, I wore high heels to church simply because God asked me to.

Nothing happened other than that God showed me that He WILL take care of me when I obey Him. My car did not break down. It might have, but it didn't.

Nothing happened other than that my prayer, irreverent as it might have been, was answered and I did not have to walk in those shoes. He had a good reason; He was teaching me to trust Him.