Mile 795.8/1000
What is good, my friends?
Out on my 1000 Mile Walk with God today.
And I've been thinking back to something from our Come, Follow Me study in the Old Testament.
A lot of the ideas I share on these walks come from little things that stand out while I'm reading the scriptures.
So, just a quick plug for morning scripture study.
You never know what God might put in your mind that carries you through the rest of the day.
Or at least through the next few miles. 😄
A while back, I was reading in one of the more obscure chapters in the book of Nehemiah.
Nehemiah chapter 3.
And I'll be honest. It's not exactly the chapter people are cross-stitching onto pillows.
It's basically a list of people rebuilding different sections of the wall around Jerusalem.
This person repaired this gate.
This family worked on that section.
This group rebuilt over there.
Important work?
Absolutely.
Riveting reading?
Not always. 😄
But then I came across verse 14 in the King James Version.
It says:
"But the dung gate repaired Malchiah…"
Now grammatically, I get it. Other translations make it clear that Malchiah repaired the dung gate. That's what happened.
But the way the King James Version phrases it caught my attention:
The dung gate repaired Malchiah.
And I thought: Well, if only there were a gospel principle here, right?!?.
The dung gate repairs me.
Now, the dung gate is exactly what it sounds like. 💩
It was the place where waste, refuse, and all the unpleasant stuff were taken out of the city.
Not exactly the glamorous gate.
Nobody was probably saying, "Oh, please assign me to the dung gate. That feels like a great personal brand move."
But somebody had to work there.
Somebody had to repair it and had to deal with the mess.
And I think all of us have dung gate experiences.
Disappointment.
Failure.
Frustration.
Discouragement.
Embarrassment.
Messy consequences.
Things that didn't go the way we hoped.
And yep, those experiences stink.
Sometimes literally, depending on your life choices. 😄
And when we're in the middle of them, we usually just want out.
We want someone else to clean it up.
We want God to take us through a nicer gate.
Maybe something with flowers.
Or a nice view.
Or at least less smell.
But sometimes the very experiences we would never choose are the ones God uses to rebuild something in us.
Humility.
Compassion.
Dependence on Him.
Faith.
Patience.
Priorities.
A softer heart.
There are parts of my walk where I pass by farms, and every once in a while, I catch a strong whiff of manure.
And my first thought is usually not, "What a beautiful agricultural blessing."
My first thought is usually much less spiritual. 😄
But farmers use that stuff for a reason.
It helps things grow.
And maybe life works a little like that too.
The messy parts do not always smell good.
They're not always fun and they're not always what we would have chosen.
But God can use them.
He can take the stinkiest experiences of our lives and somehow bring growth from them.
So my little thought from today's walk is this:
If you're going through a dung gate experience right now, don't assume God is absent.
He may be rebuilding something in you there.
Stronger, humbler, holier.
Something that can grow.
And when it stinks, just remember our buddy Malchiah.
Sometimes you repair the dung gate.
And sometimes, somehow, the dung gate repairs you.
Thanks for being part of this little B.O.M.Socks community. I'm grateful we get to walk through faith, family, scripture, humor, manure metaphors, and real life together.
Godspeed!
Derek Crimin
B.O.M.Socks CEO and Excellent Sock Model
P.S. If you'd rather listen or watch to this one while you're out on your own walk, drive, or morning routine, you can watch the short video version here: