Shirley Sherrod my Newest Hero

Shirley Sherrod is my newest hero, or she-roe, I should say.
Ms. Sherrod this week turned down two jobs offered to her by the Secretary of Agriculture. After being wrongfully accused of discriminating against white people on her job by a “sound-bite” clip posted by Andrew Breitbart and being hastily fired by a worried White House, Ms. Sherrod said this week she is not going back.
“I have moved on,” she said.
Ms. Sherrod impressed me from the first with her courage and candor. She stood up to a Goliath threatening to take her down and called its bluff. She stands by everything she has said, including the claim that it was “the White House” that asked her to resign.
At the age of 62, she has done something really remarkable. Instead of going back and getting another government job, which is most secure type of job any person could want, she has chosen instead to get out of the boat, to risk getting wet, as she walks toward a new life.
Not only does she have courage and candor, she has some crazy faith!
A friend and I were talking about that story about Jesus walking on the water. “What really happened to Peter once he took his eyes off Jesus?” my friend asked.
“He got wet. That’s all. He got wet. The others stayed in the boat and never risked getting wet, but they lost out on a wonderful time with Jesus.”
Those three little words, “he got wet” have resonated with me ever since my friend said them to me. Shirley Sherrod has stepped out of the boat of comfort and security and may get wet, but I would bet that the best time of her life is before her.
That’s called “breakthrough.”
We cannot do anything if we refuse to take risks, do a new thing, with faith that the God who created us is in the house and on the job. This God knows our hearts and sees our dreams. It is not God who holds us back. God is walking toward us; we refuse to get out of our boats and walk toward God …because we are afraid to get wet.
There can be no breakthrough until we try God. It is amazing that people of faith show how little faith we have when we come to critical moments requiring faith. We have to develop a faith that says, with resolve, that God has us, and if we fall and get wet while we are walking toward Jesus, we will not drown.
We will merely…be wet.
I look forward to seeing what Ms.Sherrod’s next steps will be. She is a warrior for justice and for the voice of right. Discrimination is not of God or from God; she was going to discriminate against a white person but God tapped her on the shoulder and reminded her that all people are God’s children.
Discrimination is therefore not allowed.
I am so appreciative that Ms. Sherrod stood up and said, “Oh no! I will not go down like this!” She brought Breitbart to light, with his misleading video, put “out there” to feed his own bigotry. Ms. Sherrod must be one of God’s anointed, because God, through Shirley Sherrod, certainly did not let this ploy of Breitbart’s bring the results he wanted.
Ms. Sherrod is moving toward her breakthrough, after years of fighting for justice.
She is …my newest she-roe.
Have a good week!
Pastor Smith