Put on the socks of peace?

 

Note: I wrote around two years ago, but because it aligns with the theme of the Armor God series I finished posting a couple of days ago, I thought I would share it again.

You are probably wondering why I am posting a picture of my socks.  This post idea came from a dream I had a few nights ago, so bear with me!  I dreamt that God told me that I should always pray over my socks.  When I woke up, I was confused.  Surely this was just a nutty dream that was from my own mind and made no sense.  But then I fell back to sleep and had another dream where I was posting a photo of my sock drawer and explaining that God wanted me to pray each time I put socks on my feet so that I would remember to be shod with the gospel of peace!  Okay, so now, this was making more sense, but I will not 100% assume this dream came from God as it still may have been from my own mind.  Either way, I can find a good message in those two dreams.

Ephesians 6 tells us we need to always be clothed in the whole armor of God.  Verse 15 specifically states, "And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace."   Moreover, in Matthew 5:9, Jesus Christ stated,  "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God."  And also, one of the fruits of the spirit listed in Galatians 5:22 is peace.

There are two lessons I am taking way from these dreams.  First, I need to find peace with God even when my circumstances seem bleak, and even when I cannot understand why things happen as they do.  I must find peace in trusting in Romans 8:26-28: Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.  

More than just finding peace in trusting God, I need to literally pray every time I put my socks on that I will be a bringer of peace. This sounded silly at first but when I thought about it, it makes a lot of sense.  The area where I struggle with most in my life is in finding peace with others' opinions about me.  I need to let go of my ego and focus on who God wants me to be: a peacemaker.  I need to let the insults bounce right out of my heart and pray for those who have placed me in a negative light. I need to love as unconditionally as Jesus Christ, the True teacher of the school of holiness, and the ultimate peace giver and peacemaker.

I must also realize that even though Matthew 5:9 says that the peacemaker will go to Heaven, that the exact opposite is also very true.  Ephesians 5:20-21 tells me that those who practice "...hatred, variance [disagreeing or quarrelling], emulations [jealously compete], wrath, strife... and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."  In other words, people who intentionally fail to keep the peace are in serious danger of going to hell!  When I think of it that way, a dream about putting on the socks of peace seems a lot more serious!

Truthfully, from now on when I put on my socks, I will be sure to pray that I can live in peace knowing that Jesus Christ loves me and only wants the best for me.  And in return, I will do my best to live a holy life for Him.  (The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. Romans 2:4) And I will pray that whoever I come in contact with throughout the day, that I will make a conscious effort to reflect all of the fruits of the Spirit (The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance Galatians 5:22-23) and show them the love of Christ through my actions, therefore  have my "feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace" (Galatians 6:15)!