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My ugly feet embarrassed me.

I never had a passion for shoes. They were nothing more than a covering for my clumsy, dirty feet. I wore them until I could feel the moisture seeping through the holes in my toes. Sandals were not an option.

Several years ago, I traveled overseas as a missionary journalist. I watched people struggle to meet basic needs. Simple acts of kindness made the biggest impact. Tears flowed down a woman’s face as a missionary in Mexico washed her feet and handed her a pair of new shoes. In a slum village in India, a young girl watched me closely from the corner of a shanty. Beneath a burlap dress, her feet were calloused, covered with layers of dirt and sand. I doubt she had ever owned a single pair of shoes.

During a trip to Indonesia, I saw first-hand the damage caused by an Asian tsunami. A cargo ship had crushed more than a dozen shanty homes two miles inland. Just outside the wreckage lay a single toddler’s shoe, covered in mud. My heart crumbled. Tears flowed down my face. My knees sunk into the cracked mud, and my body shook with words I could not find. My previous embarrassment became hideous to me. 

God calls my feet beautiful. They are His vehicle to “bring good news” and “proclaim salvation” to my community and world. How could I devalue His creation so greatly? Every foot is precious. Every toe, valuable. Every person, loved by God and not forgotten.

Often we fail to realize God uses every part of us to take His light into a dark and lonely world, even the parts that embarrass us. Our world may not see us as beautiful or lovely, but God does. The people I’ve met with uncovered, dirty feet reminded me God’s creation is truly beautiful and worthy of His love.

View yourself through God’s eyes, not as culture might see you. True beauty is in the heart of the one who is God’s messenger of good news. 

(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)

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