I waited patiently for the Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
and put their trust in him. – Psalm 40:1-3 (NIV)
I am just back from going to see a football game in the cold. I made a quick trip to Akron, Ohio to see the rivalry game between University of Akron and Kent State University, also known as the Wagon Wheel game. I wanted to experience at least one game while Dante is a student at University of Akron. One of the distinctive parts of the Zips home games is the canon that is fired after every Akron score. Dante helps organize the canon firing this year, so we got to sit in the front row in the corner by the canon, and he was able to bounce back and forth between sitting with us and being on the field. It was a fun time, with the game going to overtime (though unfortunately Akron lost).
What I had forgotten in the several years since I had gone to a late-season football game is just how cold it can be. Game time temperature was 33 and it dropped from there. Stadium winds don’t help anything, and we were there for about six hours. It was so incredibly cold!!!!! A heavy coat, sweater, gloves, warm hat, and scarf mostly made things bearable, but what I had forgotten about was my feet. I just worn everyday shoes and a pair of socks. That did not hold up for long. I needed boots and a couple of layers of socks. Once my foot got cold, though, there was nothing much I could do about it. Stomping helped a bit, but not much. Once my toes started hurting from the cold, it made it hard to enjoy the rest of the experience. I felt the ache slowly work its way up my core through the late stages of the game.
Our feet are our base. When that foundation isn’t right, everything suffers. So too with our spiritual life. When our lives are not spiritually rooted, our whole experience of life is diminished. Issues spread everywhere so that we cannot fully enjoy the wonderful gifts of life that are around us. Spiritual practices like prayer and reading the bible and worship are not simply routines demanded of us. They are practices that protect our core being. Attending to these practices regularly is like having the right boots and layers of socks. They support us having a strong and effective foundation in life so that we are free and nimble to be open to whatever life throws at us, ready to act as needed and take joy in the wonders that surround us. The good news that Psalm 40 reminds us of is that God places our feet on a firm foundation, a solid rock from which we may live in gratitude, lifting up our praise at the goodness of God. God attends to our feet even when we do not.
for a devotion.