11/14/2025
What do moleskins, Greg Norman, and Psalm 46 have in common? Read on to find out.
—-
Loosen Your Grip
from Psalm 46.10
“Be still and know that I am God.”
I was 39 when I started running long-distance races. Lots of 5Ks, about a half-dozen or so half-marathons. (Not enough time in my life to train properly for a full marathon, but that is besides the point.) However, once I bought “real” running shoes is when the problems started.
Blisters. On my left heel. Big and bubbly. It almost derailed all of my efforts. But a friend told me about moleskins. You can buy them at the drugstore, cut them up to fit what you need them to, and they adhere to your skin. It reduces the friction to the point where you can’t feel a thing. It has been, over the years, the single most important piece of my running equipment.
This is how I have run for the past dozen years or so - with moleskins.
Then I got hurt. And basically quit running altogether. Then COVID hit, and I began walking. Not necessarily for exercise but just for something to do. However, because of very low heel friction, I did not use moleskins. Now and then, I could feel a blister coming on. I would untie my shoe and loosen the laces to the point that my running shoe was more of an open-heeled shoe.
Last spring, I got the bug to enter a 5K. Signed up on a whim. I ran two times for training. With no moleskins.
And there were no blisters.
What was the difference?
I loosen my laces.
I didn’t tighten them to the point of cutting off blood flow. I used to think the tighter the better. And yet, such tight lacing caused the friction; caused the blisters.
Loosening the laces has made all the difference.
I once saw an interview with Greg Norman, the great Australian golfer, known to us armchair amateurs as the guy who choked at the biggest moments in majors. He once said that Jack Nicholas, the greatest golfer of all time (even I know that), told him to loosen his grip on the club as he swung. When he did, he won his first major.
Loosen your laces.
Loosen your grip.
Psalm 46.10 says: “Be still and know that I am God.” Another translation says, “loosen your grip and know that I am God.” Let go of the things that are in my grasp that don’t need to be. So much of my life is white-knuckled. My level of perceived control is astonishing; it leaves no air for my soul, heart, and head to breathe. No room for spontaneity. No room for joy; no room for creativity. It makes my family walk on eggshells around me at home. Furthermore, it creates a constant crack in my soul for deep-rooted temptations and “the sin that clings so closely” to seep in and harden.
Loosening your laces leads to the freedom to run without blisters.
Loosening your grip, if you're Greg Norman, leads to winning a major.
One thing I have learned, however, when it comes to “loosening the laces of my life,” is that it is not something that I can do. It is not within my power to loosen myself. I must let go of that. And be reminded of my relationship with Jesus. To let Him loosen me, so that I can live the abundant life He says He came to give. Even in matters of faith and my walk with the Lord, I must loosen my grip.
Loosening my grip on the control of my life, often resembling pride and ego, my false self, my “me-in-me,” can lead to a freedom in the fruit of the spirit, a soft, joyful home, and an openness to what comes next.
What areas of your life do you need to loosen your grip on? Work? parenting? marriage? Finances?
Loosen your grip. Let God be God. Know that He is God and you are not. And He is good. He is for you. He can do more than we ask or imagine (Eph. 3.20).
Follow and subscribe for free: johnhbeaumont.substack.com. https://substack.com/
I have been following Jesus for 30 years and in full-time ministry for over 20. I am a husband, father, pastor, author. I walk alongside others who are seeking to follow Jesus.
