Tired Feet, Rested Soul

During the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955 and 1956, Black residents refused to ride segregated buses. Thousands walked to work, day after day, for over a year.

One of those walkers was a woman Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. remembered as Sister Pollard, or Mother Pollard. He described her as seventy years old. As she walked, someone asked whether she wanted a ride, and whether she was tired.

Then she gave an answer people still repeat today: “My feets is tired, but my soul is rested.”

Her body felt every step. Her walk had not become easy. But she knew what she was walking for, and God was giving her a strength her legs alone could not supply. King later wrote about a day when he felt low and afraid. She saw it, and she told him, “I don told you we is with you all the way.”

This is how Isaiah’s promise often works. Sometimes you fly. On many days you only walk, and the promise covers those days too. Not fainting counts as a victory.

You may be tired right now, from caring for someone, from your job, from a long fight for something right. God sees your tired feet. God honors every step you take. Keep walking. Your soul can rest even while your feet are still on the road.