Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me? – Psalm 119:82
Have you been disappointed because you are seeking God and it seems He does not answer? Sometimes we may say, “I’ve prayed all I can pray and I’ve done all I can do.” And then we might be tempted to think it is God’s fault that we have not received the answer.
Improperly placing blame reminds me of a situation I once faced at work. A customer came into our shoe store, and she was extremely angry because the shoes she had purchased from us did not feel good. She let it be known that the problem was entirely our fault, that we had not done what we were supposed to do, and so forth.
Carefully, I said to her, “Let me see if I can take them in the back and fix them for you. If I cannot fix them, then we will decide what to do next.” She said, “You aren’t going to be able to do anything for me,” and continued to vent her anger. I said, “Well, ma’am, just give me the opportunity. I’m going to do some of my technical shoe stuff.”
When she allowed me to take her shoes, I went in the back and put them on the desk. Then I took a hammer, hit the desk, made lots of loud noises, and made it sound like I was really working hard back there. In actuality, I did nothing to her shoes. When I took them out and put them on her feet, she said, “Oh! These feel wonderful! What did you do?” I replied, “Tricks of the trade, ma’am. It’s just part of the job.” When she left, she was just as happy as she could be.
No, I was not taking advantage of a customer. That woman had walked into the store with her shoes on the wrong feet! The problem was very easy to fix. Yet she would not have listened had I tried to explain it to her.
Do we ever come to God with “our shoes on the wrong feet”? Perhaps on occasion we are distraught by a problem, but God knows that it can be easily fixed by some simple obedience or willingness on our part. Let us be careful not to think the problem is God’s, for He is totally just and also merciful, and He has our best interests at heart. We want to be fully surrendered to Him, and then rest in the knowledge that He will work on our behalf.
Let us check our spiritual attitudes today and be sure our shoes are on the right feet.