A Shoe That Fits
As a teacher, I loved using theatre to engage my students. I would try on several different shoes to find my ‘perfect’ fit. My students would give me feedback about how each shoe looked, whether it was appropriate and if it fitted. I used this illustration to teach my students about making a great choice when choosing a book to read, but this can easily be applied to the choices we make in our lives too.
Some choices are easy to make, while others require a bit more thought, time and attention. My careful nature has always made the tension between God’s plan for my life and my own agency difficult to navigate: What if I make the wrong choice? What is the best choice to make?
I’m grateful that the Bible tells us that God knows in advance the plans he has for us and that they are good plans (Jeremiah 29:11). His plans are not to harm us, they are to take care of us. We can be certain that this promise is true.
Sometimes our choices can lead us to unexpected and painful places. It can be really easy in these moments to wonder if we got it all wrong, but I think that God allows us to walk uncomfortably at times. It can feel like blisters and Band-Aids, painful and even purposeless, but we know that our God always has a plan. He can take everything, even our seemingly ‘wrong’ choices, and use them to create something incredible. In fact, it’s often where he does his best work.
Most of us know the discomfort of wearing shoes that are not made for us—aching and uncomfortable feet. Even if our current pair feel ill-fitting, we can always trust God has a plan and that he is good. And we can be certain that he will take every step with us.
WORDS Kelly Cooper | ART Nicole Gesmundo
