Who doesn’t want to be a gifted writer? You know, the next Shakespeare. Or Hemingway. Or Hostetler.
Stop laughing. Still, anyone who senses a call from God to write for Him hopes to get really good at it. And the path to the mountaintop, so to speak, will look different for every writer. But we might all do well to take a cue from one of the most reputedly prolific writers in history: Moses.
Remember? He literally reached the mountaintop. And thereafter produced writings that are credited to him as “the books of Moses.” Maybe you’ve heard of them.
But before reaching those heady heights, God met him in the famous burning bush encounter and told him: “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground” (Exodus 3:5 NIV).
We tend to take God’s command for granted, as a matter of course. That’s what you do on holy ground; you take off your shoes. We’ve had those words in our brains since our first days of Sunday school.
But why? Why should Moses remove his footwear on holy ground?
Scholars debate the answer, of course, because that’s what scholars do.
But I find one possibility especially intriguing: The sandals were man-made; Moses’ feet weren’t.
I think that’s a possibility that’s rich in application for us today, as those who feel called by God to write, as those who would hear His voice and receive inspiration from His hand. That is,
Lose your shoes.
Maybe God told Moses to take off his sandals because He wanted nothing to intrude or interfere in the intimacy and clarity of Moses’ coming encounter with Yahweh, the “I Am” of Israel.
And maybe that’s something that distinguishes gifted writers from plain ol’ writers.
Maybe the giftedness, the calling, the inspiration follows the removal of whatever comes between Him and us, whatever will hinder our intimacy with Him, whatever will obstruct complete vulnerability in our relationship with Him and in our writing for Him.
Obviously, I’m not talking about your Skechers or Uggs. I hesitate to even hint at what “lose your shoes” means for you.
Maybe you already know what gets in the way, what gets in between you and God, you and His call, you and the writing.
Could be sin. Some peccadillo you can’t—or won’t—set aside. Some bitterness or resentment you haven’t surrendered.
Could be fear. Fear of failure, perhaps, or even fear of success. Fear that critique or submission might expose you as an imposter, a wannabe who’s not yet good enough, not yet perfect.
Could be shame, a suspicion that God can’t or won’t use you, that you can’t write because you don’t deserve to be heard, read, respected, valued.
It could be none of these things or all of these things.
But I think for any Christian writer to be a truly gifted writer, it starts there. It starts on holy ground. It starts with losing your shoes, and removing anything man-made and human-caused between you—God’s precious and unique creation—and Him, between you and His call, between you and the writing.
So, will you? Can you? Lose your shoes?
Thank you, Bob, for this brilliant and important post. I love to take my shoes off, but sometimes I find it hard to untie the tangled laces. When that happens, I just yank the shoes off, laces be damned.
The laces do get very tangle-y!
This was exactly what I needed to hear this morning. Thank you! And praise the Lord!
This is great. My biggest problem has been writing with vulnerability. My first fiction works had nice people and nice places that bore no resemblance to reality. God’s worked hard on me over the years in this area and I’ve become a better writer and more importantly, a person much closer to her Father God.
I wear sandals every day,
thinking this is close to God,
but lately I have to say
that my reasoning is flawed.
It’s not the outside things that count,
it’s not accoutrements we wear,
it’s not the hairshirts that we flaunt;
no, these things don’t take us there.
We need to stand on holy ground,
and hear the whisper of Him voice
amidst the storm that’s gathered round
and for this we need make choice
to remove shoes from out feet
when we’re before His Judgement Seat.
Beautifully said.
All this time, I overlooked that Moses started the first Discalced order, and he wasn’t even Catholic.
And with hats off and shoes to Robert Parker:
Everybody get on your feet
You make me nervous when you in your seat
Take off your shoes and pat your feet
We’re doin’ a dance that can’t be beat
We’re barefootin’, we’re barefootin’
Thanks, Bob.
Thank you for this very insightful blog, Bob. It touched me in a very special way this morning.
Blessings!
Thank you, Bob, for wrapping profundity in winsome imaging and reminding us that to create with God requires surrender and not doing it in our own strength. You may have just saved my writing career! Thank you!
I was raised on a dairy farm. My Mom always told us to “take off those dirty shoes. Don’t track that stuff in the house”.
Thank you, Bob,
You really hit a nerve there.
What stand between me and our Lord, and fulfilling his call is fear. Fear of trying something new, and fear that I am unworthy of being respected and valued.
The call and my dream is to start a website to encourage those who face health challenges to live well, anyway, and self-publish the many novels I have written and want to write.
Chronic illness makes it difficult to pursue a publishing contract and the deadlines it entails, so self-publishing seems the way to go.
The nerve you hit, however, is fear that I am not worthy of being read, respected, and valued, despite a few publication credits to my name. I am a child of divorce. The mother of grown children of divorce, although that was forced on me and unsought. While my children live near, they don’t seem to want to spend time with me.
I know God loves me. And I love him. That is what keeps me hoping, keeps me trying to live well anyway, myself. But it is a scary and, with the exception of my husband and my beloved writers’ group, a lonely road ahead.
You are right. I must lay down my fears and stand naked before my Lord, and say, “Here I am.”
You have encouraged me.
Thank you Bob,
Recent serious illness and multiple hospital stays literally forced me to “take off my shoes” and seek intimacy with God in a way I haven’t for some time. This experience also helped me take a new a approach to my memoir with a much more Spiritual journey and I hope an inspiration to my readers during these turbulent times in the 21st Century.
Thank you again!
Straight to the heart and soul, as always. Or in this case, the sole. 💙
Most excellent advice, sir. After talking with you over a meal at the Christian Writers Conference, I could hear your voice as I read this. Thank you!
My mind went to Ephesians 6:15. “And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.”
Taking off the manmade shoes and preparing ourselves with the gospel that brings us peace sounds simple, yet, sometimes that truth eludes me when I’m writing. I heard your post as a direction to transfer my dependance from the manmade — the things I can do in my strength — to the God-made. The peace I need to write for Him is hidden in His Gospel.
Thank you, kind sir.
This is excellent, Bob! Thought-provoking and true! Thanks for your wisdom!
Amen, Bob! Thank you.
I read your post as I was settling into my writing cabin to resume work on my book-in-progress. It was too cold to actually lose my shoes, but I offered up my soul (soles) instead. Thanks Bob!
Yes! So easy to let our own minds and others to influence us rather than listening to God. I learned this lesson the hard way. I had a book that was due and I was behind and working all hours of the day and night to get it done. In the process I developed carpal tunnel syndrome got so bad my hands were paralyzed for 10 weeks. The worst case the doctor had ever seen. But I learned that I listened to do those that were not God‘s voice to get things done in their time. From that lesson, I now am am still before God and listen to him at peace be my decision he still and know that I am God God that heals. My God that speaks into the quiet.
Bob this is exactly what I needed to hear today. I’ve felt God calling me to tell my story about living with bipolar 1 and to be honest it’s a painful story. Coming from a dysfunctional family where emotional abuse was part of my childhood recalling it is painful. But I deeply feel God is calling me to get my story out there. It’s a work in progress because every day is dredging up painful memories. But if I can free myself of those old shoes and draw closer to Him Who saw me through it all then I know I can get it done! Thank you and God bless you
Well said! And so true! We are not worthy on our own – a constant work-in-progress this side of heaven. Yet with the grace of God and complete surrender, He can work through us. This is the miracle of grace. Broken vessels spreading His light into a dark world. I am in awe of Him and how He works.
This was what I needed to hear this morning. I do not like walking barefoot, especially in the house. I don’t like stepping in water or anything sticky. But, that makes me think of the deeper meaning for me. I don’t mind being barefoot outside, especially in clean, green grass. Again, I don’t like walking in dirt, mud, or grime. Perhaps, metaphorically speaking, I should. Thanks for the inspiring word this morning, Bob! Blessings in heaps…
Bob, thank you for gently putting us in our place – that of a created being standing humbly before our Creator.