Stepping on Toes
Recently our pastor’s wife, Lori, passed away and it not only left a hole in his life, it left a hole in the life of the church, as she filled many roles. One of those was making Pastor look good, as he called it, through the creation of the overhead projection…all the song lyrics, sermon slides and announcements for our church services. I worked closely with Lori for several years, usually being her back up plan when she was unavailable to work her magic. She was in the process of training a few ladies on the ins and outs of Easy Worship, the program we use. One of those ladies approached me and said she would really like the opportunity to fill Lori’s shoes by taking over the overhead, but she didn’t want to step on my toes.
What she didn’t know about me is that I prefer to be behind the scenes and I love to help, but I really don’t have any desire to be OVER anything; meaning, it’s really hard to step on my toes. It made me think about my husband, whose company requires him to wear steel-toed boots. He works at a chemical plant, although there are many industries and jobs that require them for their employees’ safety and protection.
Stepping on toes, in the metaphorical sense, is nothing more than being offended. Someone claiming to not want to is basically hoping to not offend you with something they’re about to do or say. We are living in a world with a lot of stepped on toes! People are so hyper-sensitive about the smallest of things; we feel like we have to walk on eggshells to keep from hurting people’s feelings.
As believers of Jesus Christ, we have to accept that people are going to attack us, maybe not physically, but verbally. We have to be prepared and the best way to do that is by wearing steel-toed boots…of the spiritual kind! The bible is clear in Ephesians 6 about arming ourselves for battle, and I’m not talking about boots-on-the ground battle, I’m talking about spiritual battles, where Satan will try to take you out. His sole mission is for you NOT to be a believer of Jesus and he will stop at nothing. If we allow ourselves to be upset over every trivial offense, we lose focus of the One who sits on the judgment seat. Your Father in heaven will one day, in His perfect timing, see to it that those who have wronged you pay for their actions. Romans 12:19 says, “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge…says the Lord.”
If we could literally arm ourselves with steel, we’d be Superman. The stronger armor is found in the Word of God and I’d pick that any day over anything man-made, designed for cinematic effect. Whoever came up with the ‘sticks and stones’ theory was dumb…words hurt. But we’ve got to toughen up and suck it up, because the battle has just begun. Sorry if I stepped on your toes!