Mixed-Matched Shoes

Our shoes and our companions should match

I was cleaning out my son’s closet the other day when I did something strange. I wore a pair of flip flops into my son’s room. I pulled my shoes off, climbed in a chair and begin to clean the top of his closet. As I was taking down items, I climbed down from the chair. I grabbed an arm full of all the things I wanted to throw away and headed to the trash can in the kitchen. Before I left the room, I put my shoes back on. When I was on my way back to the room, I just happened to look down at my feet. I was shocked at what I discovered.

I wasn’t wearing my flip flops. I had on two mixed matched pair of shoes. I had on one flip flop and one slide in mesh tennis shoe. How I ended up with the two different shoes on I can’t say. I was just shocked that I had done something so silly. I was also shocked that when I walking to the kitchen I hadn’t noticed the difference in the way the shoes felt. It was only when I returned to my son’s room that I noticed something wrong. Then it came to me. My shoes had been unequally yoked. Although I am not married, I recognized how it could make a world of difference.

So often in our quest to find a spouse, a companion, or a business partner, we hook up with people who just don’t go with us. They don’t share our dreams or our values. And, like my mixed matched shoes, they feel okay at first. However, we eventually start to feel some discomfort. It is then that we become miserable. We look to God to help us understand how we ended up with this person who is so wrong for us.

The answer to the question is simple. We ignored the differences. We ignored the signs because we want this person so bad. We were so caught up in our romantic feelings. Let’s be honest. We were so caught up in the sex -if it is a spouse or companion-that we couldn’t think straight. Great sex does not mean he or she will make a good spouse, a good provider, or even a good friend. This is why there are so many divorces and bitter break-ups.

So, what do you do once you notice that you are wearing mixed-matched shoes? You should ask God to help you. If you are married to them, ask God to begin to save that person and to help you. If this is a business partner, ask God to help you and your business. If this is a boyfriend or girlfriend, make a change before things go any further. I know it is harder than it sounds. Once you have become sexually connected with a person, it is hard to break that bond.

How do you stop from putting on mixed-matched shoes? How do you keep from hooking up with the wrong business partner or companion? You pray and ask God for guidance. Remember when Abraham sent his servant to bring back a wife for Isaac in Genesis 24: 12-19. He prayed that God would give him a sign and show him the right woman. We are to seek God about everything-especially something as important as choosing a spouse.

Genesis 24: 1-26

2 Corinthians 6: 14

Crayon Shower

My children and my students are always teaching me new lessons.  A few weeks before school was out, my female students taught me another great lesson about the nature of man. They did this using my crayons. It was just a few days before the state exams, and I was trying to remediate my kids. One of the techniques I was using required the kids to color the sentence parts. I had the students in groups. While I was working with one group of students, I looked up to see crayons flying across my room.

Needless to say, I was very angry. I would have thought my male students were guilty. However, I discovered that it wasn’t my boys. It was my girls who had decided to throw crayons across my room. When I confronted the guilty girls, each one of them lied. They blamed a male student in class who had been in a lot of trouble all year. My girls told me this lie with honest faces. I couldn’t believe it. All of the girls had got together and decided to lie. They were willing to get this young man in trouble just to save themselves from punishment.

When I told them that I knew the truth and asked them why they did it, the girls simply said that they wanted to have a little fun. They also stated that they lied to keep from getting in trouble. I was very angry because they were willing to let this young boy be kicked out of school because of something that they had done. It was then that I recognized the nature of man.

We are such wrecked creatures. How often we lie and cheat our fellow man just to get ahead. I wondered did these girls learn lying from their parents or did they get it from themselves. It has been said that “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”.

What does the Bible tell us about this situation?

Exodus 20: 16: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor

Exodus 23:7 : Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty.

Hosea 10:13-14: You have plowed wickedness, you have reaped injustice, You have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your way, in your numerous warriors

Matthew 12: 36-37: But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.

Proverbs 18: 21: Death and life are in the power of the tongue

Lying is not okay with God. And, why these girls decided to join together to lie on another innocent student, I don’t know. That is why it is so important to teach our children the difference between right and wrong. It is important to teach them to love and respect others.

Anxiety and God's Faithfulness

Just the other day, I was attacked by an overwhelming feeling of anxiety. I couldn’t explain where it came from or why I had it. My mind was suddenly swamped with “what ifs”. I found myself calling my best friend and whining to her about my problem. It wasn’t until Sunday evening that I realized what was going on. I cried out to God, and I identified the problem.

There is a situation that I have been seeking God about. Up until now, there was no doubt in my mind that God would answer my prayer. In the mist of my fears, I realized that I had gotten out of faith and into doubt. As my pastor, Dr. Robert Nix, likes to say, “When you are in fear, you are out of faith.”  The Bible tells us “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

So, when I realized that this was an attack of the enemy, I calmed down. I realized that I had experienced this before, but I didn’t know how to handle it. at that time. Now, I know that we are to walk by faith and not by sight.

Just like Abraham, we are not called to figure it out. We are called to have faith and believe no matter what it looks like because our God is able. He is also faithful. If he promised us something, he will do it. God cannot lie. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Philippians 4: 6-7

2 Timothy 1-7

2 Corintihian5:7

What Was Meant for Your Harm

 

My children and my students are always teaching me important lessons about life and about God. The other day, one of my boisterous students was annoying me and the whole class. So, I sent Little Miss to the classroom next door to finish her test. She was so upset that I had sent her to another room away from all of her friends that she could have spit nails. Well, after being next door for a few minutes, one of the parents of a student in the other classroom appears pushing a cart full of juices and cupcakes. It was her daughter’s birthday, and they were going to have a party in the room. Little Miss got to join in the fun. She received a cupcake and juice and candy. When she finished her test and her cupcake, Little Miss came back to class excited. She said, “See Ms. Shields, what you mean to hurt me actually helped me.” Although I wondered at the irony of her situation, I did have to admit that she was right. What the world means to use for our harm is often turned around for our good. And, no weapon formed against us shall be able to prosper. As children of the Most High, we have these promises.

Isaiah 54: 17: No weapon formed against me shall be able to prosper:

Genesis 50: 20: But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

The Road Less Traveled

The poet Robert Frost had a poem called "The Road Not Taken”. In this poem, narrator comes to a crossroad and has to make a decision about which road to travel. He chooses the road least traveled. The other day I was scrolling down my Facebook page and I noticed something. The posts that received the most "likes" were usually the ones that were very provocative, contained profanity, or were posted by people who were still strongly tied to the secular world. Posts about God, Jesus, child discipline, or righteousness didn’t receive a lot of “likes”. I also noticed that most women did not like posts by other women. This was especially true of women that they felt “thought too much of themselves” or who were “goodie two shoes”. Amazing but predictable behavior. The world lives by a different standard than the children of the king. As Christians, we are not to worry about what the world thinks of us or if we receive a lot of “likes” on Facebook. We are called to be different. We are not called to “Twerk” or wear too tight or too short clothes. We are not to post pornographic videos. Remember, we were called to a different standard. We are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. Don’t get me wrong. I am not without my own faults, but as I grow in Christ, I learn better and I do better. God told us to come from among them and be separated. The blessing is attached to our uniqueness, to our obedience, and our love of God. So, don’t despair if people think you are weird or strange. This simply means that you are doing something right.

 

Genesis 12: 1-4

2 Corinthians 6: 17

Psalms 1: 1-3

Romans 12: 1

Wisdom vs. Wealth

 

Another quote from my pastor, Dr. Robert Nix: "There is a difference between wisdom and wealth. Wealth is having the finances. Wisdom knows how to keep the finances."

Have you ever wondered why money seems to run through your fingers? Join the club. This means that you don’t have financial wisdom. Yes, you have made the money, but you don’t know how to keep it. I was not taught how to budget or manage money. So, for years, I struggled with my finances. I made a lot of dumb financial choices. Now, I have learned to pray and ask God to guide my financial decisions. This has worked so much better for me. No, I will not lie and say that I don’t still waste money. However, I have become a better steward of what God has entrusted to me. It is my continuing prayer that I learn how to get and keep wealth.

 

Deuteronomy 8:18-He gives us the power to get wealth.

Proverbs 10: 22-blessings of God make us rich

Proverbs 3:9-10-Honor the Lord with your wealth and the first fruits of your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty.

Lessons about God I Learned from My Children: Part 2

 

 

It is amazing what we can learn from children. I did a post earlier on one of the lessons about God that I learned from my oldest son. Well, just the other day, one of my students also taught me about the ways of God. One of my female students spotted the school secretary in the hall. She jumped out of her desk and declared that she just had to speak to the school secretary. I informed that student that she could not speak to the secretary. For one thing, this was during class time and as a teacher, we protect that time. For another, the secretary was headed into another teacher’s room. I was not going to let my student interrupt another teacher’s class for something trivial. I had to tell her to have a seat 3 times before she finally gave up and sat down. The thing was- I was going to let her speak to the secretary anyway after she came out of the classroom next door.  Not only was I trying to prevent the loss of class time, but my main goal was to get my hard-headed student to obey. I needed to let her see that we can’t always have things the instant we want them, and I was going to share this with her. Sadly, as soon as she sat down, she instructed another student to call the secretary for her. I looked at her and shook my head. This killed my plan to bless her. This demonstrated her lack of patience and confidence in me. So, now I was really reluctant to let her speak to the secretary.

I couldn’t help but think about how we act. How we, as Christians, act just like this little girl. We ask God for something. He doesn’t give it to us instantly, and like Abraham, we become impatient and try to do things in our own power. God knows when we are ready to receive our blessing. And, he knows when our blessing is ready for us. Sometimes, he tells us to wait because it is not the right season. He is going to bless us, but we have to be patient. Sometimes, he is just testing our hearts. Sometimes, he just wants us to obey. I am guilty of being impatient. I often want what I want when I want it. Thankfully, God is helping me to learn how to wait on him because he knows what is going on behind the scenes. So, you see there is so much that we can learn from children.

 

Genesis 16 (Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar)

1 Samuel 15:22 (Obedience is better than sacrifice)

Luke 11: 13 (Our father gives good gifts)

Ecclesiasts 3 (There is a season for all things)

Isaiah 40:31 (Those that wait upon the Lord)