How beautiful are the feet - yeah right!
There's one in every single Christian household across the country and recognisable in most Poster shops amongst all kinds of Popular culture. It's the Footprints story. But Dave Gilpin's had enough - he's re-writing it!
I’m re-writing ‘Footprints in the Sand’. There’s an idea that to walk with Jesus is to never have a tough day, never experience anything less than perfect peace and never bleed one drop of blood. I beg to differ!
Romans 10:15 quotes from Isaiah 52 and states ‘How beautiful are the feet of him who brings good news.’ In fact, Isaiah 52 adds How beautiful ‘on the mountain are the feet of him...’ Well, I don’t care where you put those feet – put them against a backdrop of black velvet and diamonds, they’re still not beautiful! Feet are actually one of the ugliest parts of the human anatomy. Personally speaking, I love my wife’s neck, shoulders, arms, eyebrows and waistline but her feet are in a completely different league! They’re not what I’d call ‘beautiful’! (Please don’t tell my wife.)
Babies are the same. Whenever a newborn baby comes into the world everyone says it’s beautiful. But to be really, really, really honest, most babies aren’t super pretty! The real reason we say a baby is beautiful is because of all it represents – a life full of potential and promise.
Feet aren’t beautiful in themselves but they are because of what they carry! They’ve walked on sun scorched plains, across rugged mountains and over broken glass to carry the good news to its required destination - a world in need of a Saviour. Now – that’s beautiful!
There’s a hymn that’s called ‘the Old Rugged Cross’. It sounds like a log cabin at Yellowstone National Park! The cross was actually an instrument of torture. If Jesus had died in an electric chair, there would be an electric chair on the top of every church in the world. The cross is ugly, yet, it’s beautiful. It’s a paradox of the highest order.
It’s beautiful for what it represents – bleeding love in all its glory.
Your feet were never meant to be perfect feet. Your journey was never meant to be the perfect journey. Your ministry was never meant to be beautiful in appearance! It’s time to kill the cult of perfection!
The world won’t look to your message before looking at your feet. Bruised, battered feet are not to be hidden – they’re your stamp of authenticity. They show how much pain you’ve been prepared to take for the sake of the message. They show that you value it. You’ll die for it. It must be good!
God isn’t looking for perfect feet. Heaven’s walls are covered with pictures of feet. For every swelling and every blister, God will reward. Every foot tells a story: that splinter of ’98 when opposition arose in your church: that scar of ’02 when one of your trusted friends turned against you; that nerve damage of ’05 when you saw your name get pulled through the mud but you kept on walking. Blistered feet are the feet of a champion. Show me one world-class athlete or football hero that hasn’t got multiple scars to show for it!
I’m currently rewriting ‘Footprints in the Sand’. Most of the time there’s only one set of footprints, they’re mine. Not His! Sure, He’s standing near, but He’s more intent on creating a champion than just adopting a child.
Stop looking for a perfect run in a perfect world. Stop protecting your feet. They’re meant to be ugly! You’re walking on them day and night! But be encouraged – they’re beautiful – they’ll be rewarded soon for every fire they’ve walked through and every river they’ve swam. For the sake of a generation in need of a Saviour.
Well done on having beautiful feet – wherever you are standing right now!
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