I wonder if, like me, you are vertically challenged. I used to be five feet two inches, not the tallest in the world — and me with six-foot brothers and a mother who was five feet eight inches. Now in my old age, I have shrunk to just barely over five feet. What happened here? Lots of people over the years have made teasing comments about me being so short. I have even been known to pray, God, when I get to eternity, can I have longer legs, please?

In thinking about my physical body being vertically challenged, I started thinking, Wow! We are all vertically challenged, spiritually. The Bible tells us that we start out in life as sinners, without a relationship with God. Through His grace, He calls us to look to Him for salvation.

Ephesians 2:8-9 – For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. (NKJV)

Those who respond to His invitation have a direct vertical link to God, through His beloved Son Jesus.

Since that happened in my life, there have been days when I have felt tall in the Spirit and days when I have felt low in the Spirit — probably lower than my present five-foot stature. How about you: have you experienced days like that?

By this time in my life, I have come to accept my short stature. I know that God loves each and every one of us, no matter what our physical body may look like. Looks don't matter to Him, but it does matter to Him when we are low in the Spirit. I get very displeased with myself when that happens. Those are the days when things just don't seem to go right. When I feel tall in the Spirit, it seems that nothing can go wrong.

Let us always endeavour to cling tenaciously to the direct vertical connection that we have with God. When we do, we will feel tall, no matter what our stature is — yes, tall in Christ Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life.

Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, help us, Your people, not to complain about ourselves, even when others tease us. May we realize that You formed us in the womb and You knew what we would be like, yet You loved us enough to send us into this world just as we were. We also ask, Father, that we would continue to walk in the Spirit alongside Your beloved Son Who died for us, that we may walk tall and free. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

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About the author:

June Heale <jinnybug@shaw.ca>
Parksville, British Columbia, Canada
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