What do you want guidance on?
We all want to make sure we’re headed in the right direction, whether it’s deciding if we should eat that dessert, or making major life-changing decisions such as buying a house or moving to another part of the country, we need guidance.
Getting it right is important because we know it’s possible to wander into danger; too many calories. Or we can stumble or fall; mortgage payments that become too much.
So what do we do to find our way?
We must look after our feet!
Living in New York City has given me a greater understanding of physical foot care and looking after our spiritual feet, too.
When you live in a city and walking is your primary mode of transport, regular pedicures are more a necessity than a luxury, especially when you have feet like mine.
“You want spa pedicure?” enquired the girl as I removed my sneakers and socks. I knew why. This wasn’t her sales pitch to sell more than the regular pedicure. My feet needed the extra attention. I wanted to hide my toes as quickly as possible in the soapy suds, instead they shone like red beacons as she clipped my nails.
I glanced with envy at the person next to me. If only I could have pretty, short toes. Instead, I have long toes — too long — and so they are calloused and bent.
For years I blamed shoes from childhood that were too small. However, a visit to a podiatrist put me right. “You have hammer toes,” he said. “Who gave them that ugly name?” I questioned silently.
Professional Guidance
“See?” He continued, “these two toes are longer than your other toes.” He pulled my deformed toes to straighten them out. Sure enough, my toes looked like a mountain range rather than a gentle rolling slope.
“The trouble is,” he continued, “most fashionable shoes you ladies like to wear are curved or pointed and your toes get squished.” He pushed my toes emulating the shape of a shoe. I could tell the lesson was about to come, “You need to wear sensible shoes with square toes.”
“Not going to happen” I thought to myself, although I nodded in agreement. “Fashion wins.” Although, since that conversation I have steered clear of extremely pointy shoes, especially now I walk so much.
And so, as I’m learning to take better care of my feet.
Spiritual Guidance
The Bible tells us to pay attention to our feet, too. Not our physical feet, of course. Although, people in biblical times knew the importance of caring for their feet as the roads they walked were dusty, rough, and filled with obstacles. They didn’t have street lights to light their way, either, and make their journey safe at night.
So, they would have understood the importance when the Bible talked about feet with regard to spiritual journey. It tells us God’s words are a guide to use when our life journey seems dark and we can’t see our way. God’s words of guidance prevents us from stumbling and falling down, wandering into danger, or going completely the wrong way
If you’re struggling to know if you’re headed in the right direction, of if you are worried you might make a mistake, keep yourself in God’s Word and he promises to make your path straight.