Painted Toes

God is amazing in the way He uses the simple, tiny things in life to teach huge lessons. Since summer is now almost upon us where I live, I wanted to do something different this year, I wanted to wear sandals so I found a relatively cheap pair(under $5) and decided to get them. I had no idea when I bought these shoes that I would be learning a few things about myself from the Lord. Things that before this time I was sure I had dealt with. It began a few weeks back when I first wore the sandals I was informed almost immediately by those around me that I had made a huge mistake in the world of sandal wearing, my toes where not painted. Gasp I had nail polish free toes showing for all the world to see. I laughed at first, but then I realized that those who were sharing with me were very serious in that I should never go out in sandals with out having my toes painted. In fact I was told that not only should they be well manicured and painted but that changing the color at least every few days was what was customary. I had no idea there were all these rules for wearing sandals in the summertime because I had not worn a pair since I was much younger. Anyway I wanted to be polite so I smiled and thanked them for their advice and wore my sandals with out the adornment on my toes but the more I was out and about the more I saw "every other woman" who wore sandals really did have her toes painted and some even wore jewelery called toe rings. I was surprised I had never noticed before but now I actually began to feel self conscious about wearing my sandals, I began to imagine everyone was staring at me, pointing at me and I really began to feel like an outcast. So after several days of struggling I found myself standing in front of the nail polish isle. There were so many different colors to choose from, reds, greens, blues, purples, yellows, even blacks and browns!! I was beginning to like the idea of painting my toes after all when I was back in high school I use to do my fingers all the time and it was no big deal. I had picked out four beautiful bottles of polish, a red, a deep purple, a bright yellow, and a stark white. Feeling satisfied with my choices I was about to leave when my eye caught sight of the price, four dollars and ninety-nine cents a bottle, I was shocked! I had twenty dollars worth of nail polish in my hand. I couldn't believe it and they were such small little bottles too. The last time I had purchased nail polish it was less then ninety-nine cents and the bottle was bigger. After considering the price I put three of the bottles back and decided on getting just the one, a deep red. I thought about it, thought about how everyone else was wearing their toes painted and how I hated standing out like the odd one. I made excuses about how it really wasn't that big of deal and after all it wasn't like I was trying to draw attention to myself, actually I reasoned that by buying the nail polish and painting my nails I would draw less attention to me because I would be more like all the other women. As I stood there thinking I felt some prick of conviction come over me and in my heart for just a moment I thought I should just put this stuff back and walk away. GOD had already been dealing with my heart on the cost of wearing makeup and some other issues in my life about vanity and on some level I knew this was just another part of that. I knew it but as a woman twice my age walked past with bright pink toes peering our from the top of her sandals I caved in. I bought the polish, and I went home and painted each one of my toes. My husband noticed right away and gave me a very nice complement about how pretty it made me look. I smiled and I felt really good about “me”. Over the next few days I wore my sandals and happily paraded my paint toes for the world. Then it happened, I noticed as I was walking through the grocery store that my hair wasn't looking so nice, many of the other ladies had their hair highlighted and styled, mine was straight and because of the humidity rather lifeless. I let out a small sigh and as the day wore on I felt worse about myself. Some of those old self patterns began raising their ugly head and I found myself really struggling in an areas that I thought I had dealt with before. I began to really struggle with my attitude and even some self loathing issues popped up for me again. I felt ugly, and fat. I hated everything about myself and it all came rushing back in like a flood. I closed my eyes and bowed my head to pray, "why Lord was this all coming up again, what had happened? What has changed to make me feel this way?" After praying as I opened my eyes the first thing I saw were my brightly painted red toes. At once I realized that I had opened the door to the enemy. I had given him an opportunity to get me to take my eyes off of Jesus and on to self. I had given into self, peer pressure from the world and in so doing I was sinning against my JESUS. Suddenly I didn't feel so good because I was fitting in with everyone else I felt sick at heart because I knew this was not what GOD wanted for me. I kept thinking about the bright red color and how it reminded me of the blood HE shed so that I didn't have to give in to pressure from the world about the way I looked. I thought about how HE gave of Himself so I could stand up in Him, draw on HIS strength to live by those conviction and not live for self. I know to some this will seem like a really trivial post that doesn't matter much and that’s ok because I also know that there are other women out there just like me who struggle with how we look, how we dress, what kind of shape our bodies are and all the pressure the world tries to force on us on a daily bases. I know that for many it can be overwhelming daily battle but I just wanted share keep your focus on Jesus, let Him be the standard, not the world. Just because the world tells us we have to have painted toes doesn't mean we have to and just because the world wears skimpy clothes, spends tons of money on fashions, makeup and hair styling doesn't mean we have to. I just want to encourage my fellow sister in Jesus, no matter how old you are to stand on those convictions that HE gives you in these areas of life what ever they might be :)

For me personally, I am still wearing my sandals but with out the nail polish. I pray He will give each of you the courage to walk with HIM in these things as HE leads you all.

God bless
maryjane

May the Lord Jesus bless and keep you, Mary Jane. This is a great testimony. How bad this might have turned out if someone else would have told you what to do. But what a delight when the Lord tells!

To me, painted toenails are not such a big thing, although no one in my house does such. But I think you were entirely onto what this thing really was--the spirit behind it all, and where it is going!

My prayer is that God would be able to modify the lives of every Christian this way, in things great and small. Thank you for your testimony, sister.

MaryJane,

Praise the Lord! Thank you for the encouragement! I used to wear toe rings but I was convicted about it. A lot like your testimony, He convicted me of ‘not’ wearing them but ‘why’ I wanted to wear them! To me that was a huge difference and it struck at my very heart. They have been my jewelry drawer for a couple of years now, maybe I’ll wear them again, maybe not; but I’m ok with either choice now! Isn't He wonderful?!!

God bless you for your honesty!
Lisa

I downloaded a sermon by Paul Washer this a.m. for todays mid-day snack...Gods Will For Slaves. It was very convicting.
Touched on seeking the Glory (respect) of men. Desiring to fit in , in this present age. "do you desire their applause, their agreement? The nod of their head....You are so shaped by your desire for the glory of men that you can't even see it. The clothing you wear. Some one else tells you whats in fashion. And you do what they tell you. What kind of car you drive, the home you own. Everything about you is shaped , much more than you could ever imagine by the desire to be respected of men...for them to honor you"..all this while I'm thinking 'I need to get a new truck. This ones getting old and what are other contractors/customers gonna think'...then I come home because of a rain day and the Lord double doses me with MaryJanes post. He's really been dealing with me about being His slave and not mans/the worlds. Right on MaryJane. I repent from letting the world tell me how to dress,drive..etc.

Amen, MaryJane!

Great testimony. It's so wonderful to be free from the fear of what others think. And to have the mind of Christ Who "took upon himself the form of a servant." If more Christians took upon themselves this form, nothing they put on would be "in fashion", for the clothes of servants are always out of fashion! I would say that Christians are not slaves but rather servants as one is forced servitude, the other voluntary.

A good question is, Does my appearance really send the message of a servant??

@ savedtoserve the reason most feel that way about the word slave is because of the stigma associated with the slave trade of America and British past. I challenge you to study it out..."we are bought at a price. we are not our own" sounds like slave talk. Lets let the word decide. In your Strongs the word translated servant in KJV,Geniva, and most other translations is doulos 1401 "a slave" Vines says ,"an adjective, signifying 'in bondage' "....A slave has no rights, he live's sleeps, eats, breathes to please his master.
He owns nothing (he has lost his life) to serve his master.
I think this is a concept the early church knew that we have let slip. They didn't care about toe nails or trucks. They cared only for their Master. They knew who they were and Whos they were. Thats why they turned the world upside down and willingly gave their lives (they weren't theirs any way glory to God)

Hi Enochh

I do hope the moderators forgive the off-topic nature of this post.

I get what you're saying and I agree with your idea of our relationship to Christ. But many words (such as doulos) have several meanings and the translators understood this when they translated doulos as servant. For example, folks have said to me "I'm going to kill you!" and I knew they were only meaning they were exasperated with me...but you can take that two different ways. A better instance would be a person who is hysterical. Well, are they overwhelmed with fear or do they think something is really funny?

Are you saying that slave and servant are one and the same or that they have the same meaning? Or that we are forced to obey the Lord?

God bless you!

God bless you, Mary Jane, for sharing....I have a similar story but on a different issue but I do not want to distract from your testimony.

God bless you....

Just wanted to say thanks for the replies.I was very much encouraged by them.

God Bless you
maryjane

Dear Sis, thanks for your post! As i read on, the thing that jumped out at me was how your husband replied to your being "beautified" where it does not really matter... How strange that it is a story of every woman... I come from another world, from a background like Anabaptists in this country, and now that i am married- it is a constant struggle to appeal to the eyes of...whomever. It is a daily struggle and one that pins me down at every corner. Never in my life i thought that i would have to "beautify" my everything in order to make someone's eyes happy, fit in and be accepted. Otherwise, you lose connections and so called friends, stand out in the crowd as a cult-like thing. Even the one most dear to you may make comments about "variety" ... What about beautiful heart? mind? values? devotion and loyalty?oh well... Talk about christianity in its finest colors! Keep my eyes on Jesus? I do, but it does not make some happy, cause my toes are not painted.... But i am happy for you that it is the Fathers voice you hear and cling to His heart, that you want to please Him and came out a victor! :) It is commendable, a great testimony and a trial that you went through and became wiser once you were out of "the valley" ! Be blessed by the Father in ALL your choices and shine for Him alone! You ARE His, and you ARE BEAUTIFUL!

Good heavens, what kind of nuts do you live around? Sounds like Snobville, California or something.

I had to laugh when I read this! But I agree....

I wear sandals regularly and no one ever says anything about my unpainted toes.

Same here...Actually, I did not know people looked that closely at toes! I am just glad I have toes! We have a son-in-law who had his large toe removed because of a recurring ganglion tumor! Yup! PTL for ten toes! :-)

Plenty of people wear sandals where I am at in the northeast US, often without a thought of nail polish, so it depends on the culture of where you live. Kind of a back-to-the-earth area. I almost never see nail polish on toenails, especially in the crowd we tend to keep. I think last summer I did notice a woman in town that had some on, but that would be the last time.

I know that where I use to live on the west coast(Nevada) and now here in the east coast (Connecticut)it seems to be a popular trend to wear summer sandals with toes painted. I really want to make it clear that this was not me trying to make any kind of blanket rule for others about painting their toes or fingers. I do not look at others around me and think them in sin for wearing nail polish. This just happen to be the tool the LORD used to help me dig deeper still on some areas of my life, more of the process of getting to the root of the sin in my life! For me this issue goes so much deeper then just painting my toes, it goes back to the root of the issues “self” I have struggled for much of my adult life with my appearance in one form or another. I have shared in the past on SI about my issues with binge eating and purging as well as self starvation in order to control my weight and attempt to have the “acceptable” body size. I have also struggled with the amount of monies I use to spend on some of these products all so that I could look “pretty.” The world bomb bards us in so many ways on a daily bases that we must look young, beautiful and sexy in order to be acceptable. The real lesson I am learning, and this is for me on a personal level is that its alright to be who JESUS has for me to be. I don't have to conform to the world and what it says is beautiful to be acceptable because as a follower of JESUS I don't want to be accepted by this world any longer any way :) I really want to find my identity in HIM alone! In this case its become even more clear to me how the enemy sneaks in looking for any and every opportunity to steal my heart away from JESUS. A little thing like painting my toe nails seems so innocent and non important but for me personally it wasn't. Choosing to open that door back up was giving the enemy a foot hold in my life and it shows me just how much in these times I can never let my guard down, I must cling to the LORD and hold tight only HE can help me navigate this world and stay on the narrow path. There is always going to be someone who kindly shares with me their thoughts and opinions on how I look or dress but in Christ I can stand strong and not feel like the ugly duckling or the odd one because living my life in submission to what HE calls me to is so much more important to me.

Thanks again to all who posted.
God Bless
maryjane

"I don’t think there is anything wrong with polish I think more it was motivation. In seeking approval and trying to fit in If you try to fit in with the world it will always be like looking in a fun house mirror"

You are right you cannot gain approval from a world that has been turned upside down regarding what it esteems.

Jesus came to set it aright. He knows that our true value and worth come only from Him. The seal He has placed upon our hearts, when we are born again through His Spirit, says we are His.We belong to Him. He gives us our identity.

I think God wants us to look good as Christian women. Yes, I have a pedicure and manicure. Once a year to get my feet ready for sandals. I like a bright color on my toes because I like looking at them. I call them "happy feet". I do have to confess though that during the pedicure I was getting pangs of guilt about the cost but then thought,why not enjoy it after all I am a daughter of the King. I believe he wanted to bless me. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Again, I think it all comes down to a heart issue. What is our motivation. Wanting to impress to find approval of the world is a road we need to avoid at all cost.

Thanks for sharing your testimony. It is always good to be reminded where our true identity comes from.