"The just man walks in his integrity...."
I have been retired for some time now and am not tempted to fill anyone else's shoes. Back in 1987 when I was called to be the Director of Missions of the Tucker Baptist Association, someone said to me about my predecessor Lester Turley,: "You have some tough shoes to fill." My answer was: "I will have enough trouble trying to fill my own shoes without trying to fill Brother Lester's shoes." It is a lesson that I have learned over my years in the ministry from 1960 to today. This lesson came home to me when I was a student at Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest, NC in the late sixties and early seventies. I found some old tapes in the library of the "Baptist Hour" sermons of Dr. George W. Truett. I had heard a lot about Dr. Truett, and, truth be told, had probably preached some of his sermons, but I had never actually heard him. I went to the library every day for weeks and listened to Dr. Truett's sermons. One night I had a dream that I was preaching in a large church. I sounded just like Dr. Truett. I walked around the pulpit and looked down at my feet and I was bare-footed. What I gleaned from this dream was that I might as well not try to fill Dr. Truett's shoes. Whether that was what I was supposed to glean from that dream or not, it has been helpful to me over the years. You see, Dr. Truett's shoes had already been filled by him. What God wanted, and still wants from me, is to do His will for my life and follow His leadership in doing it. What about you? You are a unique creation of God. There might be people who are similar to you, but no one else is exactly like you. You were born to be what God wanted you to be. It is your responsibility to find out what that is and do it. When you have found the niche that He has for you, then do what you can do, or what God wills you to do. Being human, you will make mistakes, as I certainly have, and you will not always follow His will, but , all things being equal, you will do what you can do under His leadership. In God's universe, there are no other shoes for you to fill but your own. Just make sure that the shoes fit and that you wear them well. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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