Following Close Behind

When my children were little, we had a dress up box in an upstairs closet.
It was filled with some of my old dresses and my husband’s old robes.
There were quite a few pairs of shoes; my old high heels were the most desirable.
There were accessories: gloves, evening purses, hats, and scarves.

My little thespians would stage many productions.
The dress up box was their go-to place for props.
It was a regular costume department.
It was a box of make believe and whimsy.

Wearing the old shoes was so much fun to them.
The boys would plod through the house in their dad’s shoes.
The girls would stumble around in my high heels.
They were imagining, trying to be us.

Walking in their dad’s shoes allowed them to practice, even for a moment.
Walking in my heels allowed them to be grown up for a short time.
Teetering and tottering, stumbling and plodding, they would pretend.
One day the shoes will really fit but are they ready?

A few years ago, I received a card from a friend.
I tucked it away since the message spoke to my heart.
The message challenged me when I received the card.
The message still challenges me to this day.

The front of the card read:

My three-year-old was on my heels no matter where I went. Whenever I stopped to do something and turned back around, I would trip over him. I patiently suggested fun activities to keep him occupied. But he simply smiled an innocent smile and said, “Oh, that’s all right, Mommy. I’d rather be in here with you.” Then he continued to bounce happily along. After stepping on his toes for the fifth time, I began to lose patience. When I asked him why he was acting this way, he looked up at me with sweet green eyes and said, “Well, Mommy, my teacher told me to walk in Jesus’ footsteps. But I can’t see Him, so I’m walking in yours.”

The card made me pause.
I can’t see Him, so I’m walking in yours.
A daunting challenge.
There is not one mother who thinks she is up to the task.

In fact, there is not one mother who IS up to the task.
Not on our own, anyway.
On our own, we are stumbling, plodding, and teetering just like a child.
We wear spiritual shoes that just don’t fit.

We become like the stepsisters in Cinderella.
The ones who try desperately to squeeze their foot into the glass slipper.
On our own, that is what we do.
We try to put a square peg in a round hole.

It doesn’t work.
We cannot do this life on our own.
We have little eyes watching us.
We have little feet trying to walk just like us.

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps. (1 Peter 2:21)

A mother cannot teach her child how to walk unless she herself knows how to walk.
She needs to follow the footsteps of the One she toddles after.
In faith, she is a child herself and needs direction.
She puts on her spiritual high heels, but on her own, she will stumble.

She cannot answer her child’s questions about Jesus unless she herself has answers.
She cannot teach her child to pray unless she herself prays.
She cannot help her child know God’s Word unless she has hidden it in her heart.
She cannot love unconditionally unless she knows she is unconditionally loved.

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not the man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin and I will put rich garments on you.”
(Zechariah 3:1-4)

That is the state of all of us.
Filthy before the Lord.
Dressed in clothes that we grabbed from our own spiritual dress up box.
They are not appropriate clothes; they are unclean; they are clothes of our own making.

One day, we will be dressed in fine clothes.
Clothes that are not of our own making.
Clothes that are provided by Him.
Clothes of His Righteousness.

Gone is the pretense.
Gone is the stumbling, plodding, and teetering.
In their place are clothes that fit perfectly.
He dresses us in Clothes of Righteousness.

We are well turned out.
We are clean.
We are forgiven.
We are unconditionally loved.

Now, we have footsteps that know where they are going.
Now, we have footsteps that are ready to be followed.
Now, have footsteps that walk with a purpose.
Now, we can lead others because we know where we are going.

But, I can’t see Him, so I’m walking in yours.

Where are your footsteps going?
Will they lead them to Him?

 

2 responses to “Following Close Behind”

1. A Godly challenge to all parents! May God help us to be good examples so our children will walk in our footsteps in the ways that lead them to Him.

   Reply

   • You are right, Sue…a Godly challenge.
     Impossible on our own.
     Only doable through Him.
     Gina

     Reply