New Shoes

“I think you need new shoes,” the doctor said after examining my knee. 

I run several times a week and the last few times I tried to run; I had to stop. My knee started bothering me and I could barely bend it. I came to my doctor to find out what was wrong.

“Why do you say that?” I asked.

“How long have you had them?”

“Maybe nine months,” I said after scrunching up my face to think about it.

“I recommend buying new shoes every six months. A shoes midsole absorbs a lot of the energy of walking or running and after six months, it wears out and your knee absorbs that energy. You have tendonitis and I think new shoes would solve your problem. Don’t do any running for a week and get new shoes.” 

“What did the doctor say?” my wife asked when I got home.

“I need new shoes.”

“That’s all, new shoes?!” 

I told her what the doctor said about the midsole.   

“So, what’s the problem? Just go by some shoes,” she said after she saw I didn’t like that idea. 

“It took me a while to find running shoes I like, and the manufacturer discontinued this model so, now I must find another model that works for me,” I sighed.

“Well, anything is better than what you have right now.” 

“I know. I just really liked these. They don’t look worn out and they still feel comfortable until I run in them.” 

“This situation confirms what I need to do. I’ve been feeling like I should move from the children’s ministry at church and start helping in the hospitality ministry.” 

“How does me needing new shoes help you with that?” Sometimes my wife made the strangest connections.

“I’ve helped in the children’s ministry for about six years. It’s comfortable and familiar and I like it. The last few months, I feel like God wants me to move to the hospitality ministry and I’ve been resisting that. I’ve been feeling like God is a little distant lately and it’s because I have spiritual tendonitis. God hasn’t withdrawn from me. It’s just I haven’t obeyed Him.”

“That is so true. We don’t want to do something new when He tells us to because we’re comfortable with what we’re doing. Then we get locked up spiritually, and He seems distant, but if we’d just get new shoes, our tendonitis goes away.” 

I bought new shoes and haven’t had any more trouble with tendonitis. Will you get ‘new shoes’ when you know God wants you to?