By: Pastor Jarren Rogers

“It is in Him that we are really free, He is Himself our direction, our guiding into freedom, our awakening to life in that freedom, our guidance to make use of it, our Lord and King, and therefore in this sense too our reconciliation with God, the One who fulfills our conversion to Him.” – Karl Barth

Have you ever gotten a pebble in your shoe? You feel it with your first step and you wince a little. You sigh and shake your head. It inconvenient but not really painful. So, you just keep walking. Step after step, the pebble jabs at the bottom of your foot.

You try to take your mind off of it but with each step comes a hurtful reminder. It wasn’t painful at first, but now it is becoming difficult. The voice in your head says ow, ow, ow, with each step. Your balance is thrown off by this tiny pebble, your walk is unnatural.

But look. Up ahead is a bench. You know that with that bench comes relief. The last few steps to the bench still hurt but there is hope and anticipation for a release from what is harming you.

Finally, you reach the bench. You flop down and begin scrambling at your shoelaces. Your tear your show free and out falls a tiny, pea-sized pebble onto the ground. You stare at it.

That is what has caused me so much pain? That is what has made walking so difficult?

We each have our own pebbles. Each of us has something that throws off our balance. Something that causes us to stumble. Something that affects our walk with God.

But we refuse to deal with it.

We continually walk with that pebble in our shoe, day in and day out. It hurts our relationship with God, our time at work, our marriages, and our families. Our pebbles are painful, not only to us but to the people around us, yet we refuse to have them removed.

Our pebbles can manifest themselves in different ways. Maybe our pebble is an addiction. Maybe it’s lying. Maybe it’s anxiety. Maybe it’s lust. Maybe it’s laziness. Whatever your pebble is, it’s tumbling around in your shoe and it’s hurting you and the people around you.

So, how do we remove the pebbles that we have?

The difference between actual pebbles and spiritual pebbles is that we can sit down and remove actual pebbles ourselves. With spiritual pebbles, it requires that we sit down on the bench next to Jesus and allow Him to remove it for us.

“Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken” (Psalm 55:22).

If we offer up our pebbles up to God, He promises to remove them from us. Do not let your pebbles continue to harm you and your relationships. Allow God to remove them from you.

After they are removed, you will feel relief and understand just how small your pebble is compared to your great and powerful God.

Parents: Ask your children if they’ve ever gotten a pebble stuck in their shoe. Explain to them how this can relate to their walk with God.