Flip-Flops to Follow

Blue flip-flops. Hour after hour. Mile after mile. Through boulder fields and thorny underbrush. Up and down mountain passes, never a complaint never a whiny moment. Only humming and singing and constant jibber jabber. That’s the picture of Asan, a man I met at the bottom of the mountains and followed to the top. His constant display of patience, toughness, and good spirits set the tone for the day. After climbing all day, we arrived at his house a few moments before sundown, shook hands with all the mountain brethren, and sat down around a giant bubbling pot of stew.

Later on, as I lay out under the stars with a full belly and heavy eyelids, I could hear the echoes of the men talking inside. They were discussing the Almighty and His prophets. Amidst it all, one man spoke up and said, “Yes, Muhammad is the messenger of God, but Jesus is the Word of God!”

Pray for these men before you go to sleep. They are sitting in a small stone cottage on a mountainside half a day away from the nearest road. Pray that they will understand what they are talking about. Pray that they will believe, put on their flip-flops, and follow.

Psa 16:11
“You will show me the path that leads to life; your presence fills me with joy and brings me pleasure forever”.

Heavenly Shepherd, Lord Christ, our guide and constant help in times of trouble, let our eyes be ever fixed towards you. Fix our hearts and tongues to rejoice and praise, for you are the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Thank you Lord Jesus, the Ever-Living One, for leading us in all things. Thank you for even showing us how to die. We do not have to fear death, because you died and resurrected first. And because you were resurrected, we can also be resurrected too.

In this world pain and sorrow are our lot, but you tell us that in heaven there is joy, a fullness of joy; not partial joy; not imperfect joy; not joy intermingled with sadness and struggle; not joy which, in and of itself real, does not satisfy the desires of the soul, as is the case with much of the happiness which we experience in this life – but joy, satisfying, unclouded, unmingled with anything that would diminish its fullness or its brightness; joy that will not be diminished, as all earthly joys must be, by the feeling that it must soon come to an end. Thank you for this path to joy and pleasure everlasting.

Thank you that you are Living Hope. May you give all peoples in every part of the world, the wisdom to know you, our Living Hope and to follow. Amen.

(permission to use this story was obtained from it’s originating author. Names have been changed to protect identities)