Take Off Your Shoes
Oh, friend.
You’re close to it, aren’t you?
To the burning.
Oh, sweet friend.
Ok.
You feel the heat…“on the far side of the wilderness” (Exodus 3:1).
Your wilderness. Your own personal desert.
You swear you’ve been led to this God forsaken place. Brought here. It wasn’t your doing.
You SWEAR you’ve been BROUGHT here somehow.
And, you feel it.
You feel the heat. You feel the burning.
And, you are confused. And, scared. And, it seems so strange…this place where you’ve been brought (Exodus 3:3).
And, you want to SEE. To understand. To GET. IT. The burning. The purpose of it. The how. The why. The “what-the-hell-is-going-on” (Exodus 3:4). Suddenly everything is so STRANGE.
I’m so sorry, friend. So, so sorry. This place is hard. And hot. And, yes…it is STRANGE.
And, you get this sense…this crazy sense…that God Herself is in the burning. That She is here. That there is some crazy purpose to this wilderness journey that has brought you to the burning. You can almost hear Her speaking to you through the fire (Exodus 3:4):
“Here I am.”
“Where you are standing is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5).
Listen to me friend. Listen.
I know you are going to struggle to believe what I am about to say in this moment of strangeness and heat and pain and fear.
Listen.
Friend, where the burning takes place…THAT is the holy ground.
It is where God meets YOU.
Take off your shoes, friend. Don’t be afraid of the burning bush.
Don’t be afraid to uncover yourself.
Don’t be afraid to take off your shoes.
To be REAL.
THAT is holy work.
Vulnerability.
THAT is holy work, friend.
LISTEN.
The burning carries the Presence. Carries the Voice (Exodus 3:6).
The burning. It is where you HEAR and ENCOUNTER.
YOU.
GOD.
PURPOSE.
SALVATION.
Where you take off your shoes.
Terrifying as hell. Yes.
I get it. Oh, how I get it. So, so, so scary.
AND, it is holy.
Holy. Holy. Holy.
TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES, friend.
Be still.
Listen. Wait for it. Tolerate the heat. Just a while longer.
Stay close to it for just a little bit more.
The comforting.
The Voice.
The Presence.
The direction.
PURPOSE.
It’s coming.
You are heard in the burning (Exodus 3:7).
SEEN.
KNOWN. Called by your name. Identity established.
From the burning.
BY THE BURNING.
TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES, friend. Take them off.
Your oppression (Exodus 3:7).
Your misery.
Your suffering.
Your crying out.
Your hard labor.
Your BONDAGE.
Seen. Noticed. Addressed. Called out.
In the burning.
BY THE BURNING.
And there is a plan (Exodus 3:10).
For space (Exodus 3:8).
For redemption.
For new life.
Friend, listen to me. Everything you need in this hot, strange, scary place…it is in the burning.
Take off your shoes, friend.
TAKE. OFF. YOUR. SHOES.
Don’t run away. Get closer.
Closer to the heat. Closer to the strange. Closer to the scary.
Walk towards the burning. Tolerate the heat. For just a moment.
Just a little while longer.
And wait for it.
TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES, friend.
Take off your shoes.
This was a beautiful post. Thank you.
I am glad you enjoyed it, Amanda. Thanks for reading.
And be thankful you’re privileged enough to hear the call, to feel the burn, to indeed be on holy ground. There is no “why me?” – only “Here I Am!”
Blessings upon your spirit!
Sally, I love this. Thank you so much for reading and commenting. Your encouragement and insight is an encouragement and inspiration.
Once again, perfect timing! Your posts are encouraging. I love reading them.