2 Corinthians 4:16–1

Fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Cor. 4:18)

I THOUGHT THEY LIKED what they saw. The crowd clapped. My friend and I clog-danced in the wooden gazebo. This kind of clog dancing wasn’t done with wooden shoes; it was more like tap dancing. We wore metal pieces on our shoes that made us sound louder. My taps felt a little sticky, but I kept dancing. I didn’t know one of my taps had come loose. Soon, a board hitched under the tap and sent it toward my grandfather’s head as I turned a different direction. He ducked, but the crowd cheered harder because they knew I was dancing with nails sticking out of my dance shoe. The harder I danced, the more the nails stuck into the wooden floor, causing unseen trouble.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul noted that our day-to-day troubles increase eternal glory. He told us to not focus on what we can see, but rather on what we can’t see. Each time our shoe sticks and we can’t see it, it makes life a little more difficult. However, no circumstances are permanent in this life, and if we keep dancing, we’ll see that they served a greater purpose. At the end of the dance Jesus will reveal what we didn’t see—the eternal impact.

As you encounter troubles in your day, keep dancing. Remember, if the shoe sticks, it’s temporary. What’s important is the influence you’ll have on eternity.

Look for the eternal behind any “sticky shoe” experiences today.

Mollie Bond works in radio as an assistant producer. Watching snowflakes slows her down. Otherwise she is at church or with her cat, Charlie.