Dust Off Your Feet

"If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, 

shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town”. 

(Matthew 10:14 —NIV)

I wanted to call this blog, “On the Sidelines”, as it correlates with the message of this blog and was the first song I wrote in 2020, during our forced enclosure from a foreign agent exposure.

It was also the first song that initiated our SoulCorde Music Ministry vision.

Have you ever felt like you’ve been sidelined by the enemy, only to find out that you were sidelined by God?

Well, that’s exactly what I discovered in the early part of 2020 when I’d been prophesied over by a “reputable messenger of God.”

Naturally I tested the spirit, given this man is mere mortal and can have his bad or off-the-mark days.

Only, what he said to me resonated so profoundly that I still refer to it during such times when I feel as if the rest of the world has somehow asked me to keep the bench warm and let the star players onto the field to play.

I will touch more on that in a few paragraphs, and instead return to the main focus of this blog: “Dust Off Your Feet.”

When Jesus was instructing the disciples (as referenced above) on how to respond to anyone not welcoming them or listening to their testimonies of the gospel, it seems pretty clear to me that He was saying something like, shake off the rejection.

Sometimes I overlook the fact that there are two verbs in the last part of the sentence; “shake off” and “leave."

Meaning, we actually have to move on elsewhere and beyond the removal of the offence.

Basically, Do as I have discipled you to do and if the ones you share the lessons with don’t receive it, no need to let that become burdensome in your footsteps forward.

Recently, I had a dream about being in a school where it felt as if I was teleported in as a homeroom teacher; with a class about to enter and the day plans missing from the desk. Frantically, I rummaged through the very large desk drawer hoping to locate them; only to find reams of clipboards containing old lesson plans.

Upon awakening, an unpleasant memory was triggered of when I was in Teacher’s College in 2007 and we were being taught about lesson planning. Simultaneously, trauma seeped in as I was reminded that unless I spent countless hours planning a 40-minute lesson, it likely wasn’t good enough.

The precedence this set was a subliminal belief that if the needs of every learner in the classroom were not met, and hence them failing, the teacher was to blame. 

As spectacle, your performance level is measured by the success of each and every student looking on; the specimens of the greater spectators.

How does one shake the chalk-dust off their hands from that scaffold, let alone be given a choice to leave the scene and find another classroom that’s not founded on the same standards or belief system? Clearly that’s rhetorical. You don’t!

Well, unless you do as I chose to do after fourteen years of working for the public school system. You literally shake off the security of a paycheque, and leave town to fulfill what you believe the good Lord has called you to do.

As a teacher, Jesus knew that when He delivered His message in His own unique way that it would not land fully in the hearts of everyone present. He chose not to worry about how the lesson plans met with the onlookers; whether they all understood, received or believed it. He provided them with a seed and it was up to them to let it sink into fertile soil, be nurtured, watered, and thus grow. The responsibility of the seed’s germination, upon its sowing, is up to the one who’s fortunate enough to have been given it.

I know, as a teacher for the DDSB, I was attending to the needs of the children. So, one might argue this rule doesn’t apply. But, so should we — as adults — be like little children when we are learning; as if to be hearing something for the very first time, filled with the awe and wonder that comes alongside that very humble lens through which children see.

The enemy will try to convince you that you need to go back to where you started, or to fix what you didn’t do right the first time around. You know, repeat the lesson for the twelve that failed. 

But, what of the hundred that await you in the next room?

We ought consider this, when we parallel the quoted scripture with our own callings; making it applicable to spreading the gospel through those callings.

In our prison ministry, where I instruct a weekly music club, we cannot be worried or concerned about the men who choose not to return. We need to focus on the ones who show up and are willing to receive. Or, to the new ones who come and are equally as engaged in learning as the consistent attendees. Let’s form a new phrase and call them the Repeat Attenders.

Now back to the 2020 prophesy. 

I was told that all those years I assumed the enemy had been sidelining me from my destiny, it was actually God doing it.

Naturally, this came as a shock to my system, given the negative connotation attached to the word sidelined; where the person being sidelined has been taken out of play, as they are either injured or not playing at a performance level worthy of the game.

So yeah, how do I contend with that news?

Here’s the thing though: I believe that shaking the dust off our feet doesn’t just apply to rejection. I believe it’s also applicable to the accolades given, when we do get taken off the sidelines and placed onto the playing field of our calling. You see, I believe that ego is attached to both circumstances; whether rejected or praised, ego can rear its ugly head.

Ego means, “a person's sense of self-esteem or self-importance”, and more often than not people equate this to inflated egos. But, that is just not the case.

Ego can also be a person’s deflated sense of self-esteem or self-importance and that is equally as dangerous.

So, how do we shake off the dust of our ego?

For me, it means that on those outreach nights where Pat and I walk away feeling an enormous amount of peace and love from the Lord — because we managed to reach more than one soul — we need to shake off the need to stay in that moment for too long; lest it become inflated, deterring us from focusing on the next town or outreach opportunity. But equally so, we need to shake off the rejections from those who said they'd come and didn't so much as show up or even reach out. Or, shake off the silence of those who did come, but chose to slip out the back door discretely when you sang your last note. It's all the same.

As mentioned, a song came of it which I will let speak to this very point of What do you do when God sidelines you?

From my own experience on the sidelines, might I also suggest you, “[…] shake the dust [or offence] off your [cleats] when you leave [or get up from] that [bench].” And while standing there, start making use of your warrior position on the sidelines; where He chooses the level on which we stand!

On the Sidelines

Verse 1

Thought the enemy sidelined me from my destiny

But all the time it was you Lord

Hiding me from the dangers unseen

Chosen as a testimony of your faithfulness  

Led through the fire  —  Refined for glory

Washed anew through stormy waves

Lord, use my pain to tell your story

I’ll hold fast to wonder

I won’t ponder the how, when, why or where

My faith lies in knowing you are there

Show me when to be content to stand

Or when to climb that mountain

Crucify me of myself 

Purify my intentions

Pre Chorus

Doors that shut aren’t rejection 

It’s your grace and protection

Chorus

I’m a warrior when I’m on the sidelines

Outside of my enemies’ sight-lines

Beyond what eyes can see 

Not mine, but your design

For my greatest destiny

You’ve staged this place for me

Verse 2

I’ll labour love, beyond 4-walls

Sing and dance for the kingdom above

Fill the spaces from east to west

Creatures below and above me blessed

Heavenly roars will call for more

Shame will leave my every pore

No need for earth to sing for me

My songs of praise will be the victory

Pre Chorus

Doors that shut aren’t rejection 

It’s your grace and protection

Chorus

I’m a warrior when I’m on the sidelines

Outside of my enemies’ sight-lines

Beyond what eyes can see 

Not mine, but your design

For my greatest destiny

You’ve staged this 

I’m a warrior when I’m on the sidelines

Outside of my enemies’ sight-lines

Beyond what eyes can see 

Not mine, but your design

For my greatest destiny

You’ve staged this place for me

Bridge

I’ll wage this war with praise

Your hand will be my stage

Like David, my spirit you will raise

Every word from my tongue

Every thought that is sung

Will be a new language you phrase

(Repeat once)

Chorus

I’m a warrior when I’m on the sidelines

Outside of my enemies’ sight-lines

Beyond what eyes can see 

Not mine, but your design

For my greatest destiny

You’ve staged this 

I’m a warrior when I’m on the sidelines

Outside of my enemies’ sight-lines

Beyond what eyes can see 

Not mine, but your design

For my greatest destiny

You’ve staged this place for me, You’ve staged this place for me

©Paula Walker and SoulCorde Music 2020