Footprints Revisited

2021-10-05

There is a famous poem out there called Footprints. The poem recounts a man who dreams of his life as scenes on a beach. During certain times, there were two men’s footprints etched in the sand. During the man’s darkest hours, there was a single set of footprints. From this, the man inferred that during the tribulations of life, the Lord abandoned him to walk alone, leaving one set of footprints. The bountiful times were because the Lord was there, walking with him, leaving the two sets of prints.

The man asked the Lord why He would abandon him during the times of wanting. The Lord corrected him, saying, that during the dark times the Lord carried the man, leaving only the single set of footprints.

This is an encouraging poem. It assures us that the Lord carries us through the dark times. Jesus tells us, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

This poem is normally written on a bookmark or greeting card with a backdrop of a serene beach with champagne foam on the shoreline. However, the real scene is a little different. The real beach is like a cross between Normandy on D-Day and Banda Aceh during the great tsunami of 2004. The Lord Jesus is carrying you the entire way; you never walked once your entire life. There is gunfire everywhere, and the Lord is using Himself as a human shield to protect you. Oh, and the sand is quicksand. The Lord miraculously walks on the sand whenever there is not a tsunami washing everything else away. Then He walks on the water. You are strangely oblivious to all this calamity. However, there is another set of footprints next to Jesus’ footprints, a phony set of footprints. Satan comes and points to those fake footprints, and tells you, “Look how well you’re doing in carrying yourself through all this!”

It is only in retrospect that you look back and say, “Only the Lord could have carried me through that.”