Just before Moses died, he gathered the tribes of Israel together and pronounced prophetical blessings upon them.  When he came to the tribe of Asher he said something quite unusual.  He declared, “Let him dip his foot in oil.  Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be” (Deuteronomy 33:24-25).

     Doesn’t it sound strange that Asher would be required to wear shoes of iron and brass?  Imagine such a thing.  This doesn’t seem like a blessing at all.  I would think shoes of iron and brass would be weird and weighty.  Can you see this tribe as they cross the Jordan or when they walk around the gated city of Jericho?  They traveled miles in the desert and over rugged terrain all in shoes that were heavy and burdensome.  But what seemed like a burden was actually God’s provision.

     The elements of the world could never penetrate iron and brass; and though it seemed like a burden to walk in such weighty shoes, it was actually a blessing in disguise.  That’s the way God works.  His blessings are not always wrapped in the prettiest packages.  Sometimes what appears to be hurtful and heavy is actually helpful and heavenly.  You may be walking in some heavy shoes right now, but as Corrie Ten Boom said, “If God sends us on stony paths, He provides strong shoes.”