A Pebble in your Shoe

"In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."                                                                           John 16:33.  NKJV

The word 'Tribulation,' can cover trials, distress and suffering. It is something hard to bear physically or emotionally, or an annoying or frustrating, catastrophic event.

Tribulation can cover a multitude of things, not only major ones that we expect may happen in the End times, but things that can happen to everyone from time to time.
Take for example a pebble in the shoe.  When this happens it can feel like we have a massive, jagged boulder in our shoe. However, when we check, it may only be a tiny pebble. It's crazy that something so small can give us so much discomfort.

Mostly, although annoying, we can slip the shoe off and be free from this terrible discomfort. At other times, it is not so easy especially if we're on a route march, where we can't really stop and where to remove the boot would be a major chore.

How do they get in there in the first place. If we were to tell someone that we're going to kick up a small stone and make it land in our shoe, it would probably never happen and they would feel that we're very strange. But, when we're least expecting it - Wham! - a pebble arrives from nowhere and it's threatening to dig into our big toe. Not nice.

Life's a little like this though. We can be getting on with our day, when suddenly, something happens that knocks us for six. One minute we have a measure of peace, the next anxiety, pain and utter despair; and rather like the pebble, no matter how small it may be, it hurts and we can't seem to move it so that we can have some relief.

Our lives can be very much like this. The pebble may represent something that has happened to us that we can't forget. It causes pain and discomfort and no matter how much we try, we can't seem to forget what has happened so that we can move on. 
Alternatively, there may be something that we have done or said and the pebble causes us guilt and condemnation. Firstly, we need to remember that there is no condemnation for Christians:

'There is therefore now, no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.'   (Romans 8:1)

Secondly, guilt is a reminder that we need to put something right. We may need to go to someone and tell them that we are sorry for our behaviour towards them. Then if the guilt remains, we will know that it is the enemy attacking us and trying to turn this into condemnation. We can then tell him to get behind us in Jesus' Name because we are not guilty.

The pebble can be a good thing actually. It can be a time when we search within ourselves and assess our walk with Jesus, and how it is going. We all have issues in life and we have to learn to deal with them appropriately. The answer to most issues such as this is: forgiving people and asking for forgiveness. When we do this, it brings a certain release. It is rather like taking off our shoe and shaking the pebble out.

Forgiveness sets a person free from the bondage we've been living under. It's a choice, but Jesus has very strong feelings about this. Make sure you read and understand the following:

'(14)For if you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. (15) but  if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.'
                                                                                                  Matthew 6:14-15

These are very important words and words that we need to take notice of. When we do, the pebble in our life will disappear and we'll have a new bounce to our Spiritual life.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com