Sometimes I think my feet are ugly... not my literal feet (although, maybe those too). I’m talking about my figurative feet that have brought good news to this foreign land. I often find myself complaining about frustrations in my new culture or the lack of responsiveness to ministry efforts. I look to those things for joy and contentment which leave me restless and wanting because, well, they aren’t meant to be my source for joy and contentment. The source for those things is the good news I’ve come to share, the gospel of Jesus Christ and His salvation. 

When I pursue joy and contentment, peace and goodness, success and glory, in my ministry instead of my salvation, I am misrepresenting the good news, looking more like the world’s definition of those things and not the Kingdom of God. My feet look just like every other set of feet pursuing satisfaction in the temporal things of this world. 

But when I recognize the state of my feet (or rather the Holy Spirit points it out to me) and remember the message of the good news for my soul, a transformation occurs. My feet become these beautiful representatives for peace and good tidings. The worries of ministry and the frustrations of culture melt away in the being known and loved by my Saviour. 

Beauty is a reflection of being known and loved, of being accepted and forgiven, and of being chosen and sent out. And not because of anything I have done in and of myself but because of what Jesus has done for me. Paul states it plainly in Ephesians 2:8-10, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

So, as the handiwork of God, I set out to expose my beautiful feet for His glory, proclaiming He reigns not only in the world but also my heart.