Recently, I watched a movie where the young actress was prepping for a ballet recital and I noticed her do something unusual with her ballet shoes. I watched this girl literally bend, stretch, burn and scratch up a pair of perfectly good pointe shoes, all so she could move better in them. Of course my first thought was: It doesn't take all that. However, after doing some research, I learned when you buy pointe shoes in their original form, they’re very stiff and limit any movement for the dancer, often resulting in pain. In order for the dancer to gain the flexibility needed to move, they must first cut up the soles of the shoe to add traction so that the dancer doesn’t slip while moving. Next, the dancer adds immense pressure to bend the shoe to the mold of the foot. This gives the dancer the needed support to make difficult moves. I quickly learned that the dancer’s objective was not to break her shoe, but rather to break-it-in. Wow. The more I read about this process, the more familiar it was starting to sound.
"Much like a shoe, sometimes God has to break us in to get the movement He needs out of our lives."
So as usual, moment of transparency. I recently struggled with making a really tough decision...even after God told me what choice to make. I heard God's voice as clear as day and instead of taking Him at His word, I sat and rationalized the situation. I weighed out my pros and cons and eventually my head started blowing out smoke from over-analyzing a situation that God had already answered. I let my limited view of my situation make me second guess the Voice of God. The more I concentrated on the details of the situation, the more I found reason not to make a move.
All of the sudden, it clicked for me. I was just like that pair of pointe shoes in the movie. I allowed my own uncertainties and my lack of trust to stiffen me from being obedient to God. It was through this experience that I realized that much like a shoe, sometimes God has to break-us-in to get the movement He needs out of our lives. In other words, there are so many great ways that God wants to move in our lives, but as long as we depend on our own logic, we'll never fully experience all He can do.
"When we realize who God is, it will become easier for us to not only recognize but trust His voice when we're asked to make difficult moves."
Like the dancer with her shoes, the Lord had to put me through a process….to break-me-in. He literally had to cut away doubt and train my spiritual ear to hear His voice above the chaos of my own thoughts. However, don't think that just because God leads you somewhere it will always feel good. Trust me, sometimes it won't. Heck, most times it probably won't even make sense. It's at this point that we need to be reminded it's not about how we feel, but it's all about who God is and what He's called us to do. When we realize who God is, it will become easier for us to not only recognize but trust His voice when we're asked to make difficult moves. The process was is not easy, but just when I started to slip and felt unsure, He added traction to my heart with His Word to reassure me that I was moving in the right direction. "...Those who trust God's action in them, find that God's Spirit is in them..." - Romans 8:5-8 (MSG)
"It wasn't until it underwent a process, that it became fit for use of its full potential."
The pointe shoes in its original form were actually useless. It wasn’t until it underwent a process, that it became fit for use of its full potential. All of the discomfort, tearing, bending and stretching you’re experiencing right now, is on purpose. Not with the intent of breaking you, but bending you, making you more flexible to move into the direction where He needs you to be. So stop being logic-led and start being spirit-led. Allow God to change you from the stiff, self-reliant, over-analyzing, ordinary Christian you’re fighting so desperately to be, and let Him break-you-in for His use to do extraordinary things.
*Bible Study
