It was barefoot shoes that gave me my inspiration this time. On a rainy Saturday in the month of May, he and I sat at the table in the midst of a couple hundred people and talked about walking and running. I had looked into barefoot shoes before but never thought they’d be good for my high arches, plus someone told me they weren’t made to wear on four mile walks. Since that’s what I would want them for, I quit looking.

But that day as he told me of his experience with barefoot shoes and running, he told me how you could get some with the soles built better for trails. I decided to try some like that and I fell in love. My toes spread wide, yet still in shoes, made me happy. I love sandals yet hardly wanted to not wear these shoes. 

One day I looked down at them and pondered. For some reason, the feel of them and the way my toes didn’t feel confined reminded me of what a real relationship with God feels like. It feels a little like barefoot shoes.

He wants us to walk this narrow way which will get us to Heaven—wants us to wear shoes if you will. And to some it may feel too narrow, but when we truly love Him and want to live for Him, it feels alot like my toes feel in those shoes. Free. 

Do you feel like the narrow way confines you? If so, maybe you’re wearing the shoes that squish your feet. The toes are tight, your foot feels misshapen, and because of this, the way feels too narrow. Our feet begin to hurt and we want freedom. Still—we don’t want to change. We think the shoes won’t fit right for our high arches—the way we want to live. Besides could we really walk in them for as long as we’ll need to?

But when we wear the right kind of shoes, the confinement of the narrow way leaves. We realize there is a freedom we never expected. We wiggle our toes with all the joy that comes on this narrow way. We notice how much space to move there really is. We don’t want to wear any other shoes. And suddenly we realize that this beautiful way of God cannot be compared to any other shoes or any other way and we can’t get enough of it.