Footprints
Imagine one night you have a dream. In this vision you are on a dusty, narrow path. You and Jesus are walking together. You notice footprints in the dirt as you walk. The Lord's footprints are steady, constant, unvarying. Your footprints...disorganized steps with starts, abrupt stops, zigzags, many circles, some departures and returns.
As you look down the path, for much of the way, it goes like this. Then you notice, your footprints are more in line with Jesus' steps. You and Jesus are walking side by side, like true friends.
As you contemplate this perfection of walking together, you suddenly see that your foot prints become synchronized with Jesus. You and Jesus are becoming one. Inside His larger footprints are your smaller ones. This continues for many miles...then you notice another change.
The footprints inside the large footprints seem to grow larger, then disappear completely..
There is only one set of footprints. They have become one. Suddenly the second set of footprints is back. This time the prints are all over the place. Gashes in the sand, zigzag footprints everywhere. Stops. Starts. A mess of footprints.
You are perplexed. Your dream ends. Now you pray:
"Lord, I understand the first scene, with the steps that were out of control. I was a new Christian. I was learning. I know that was when I was going through a storm. You were beside me helping me."
"That is correct." The Lord replies.
"And when the smaller footprints were inside Yours, I was actually learning to walk in Your steps, and following you very closely."
"Very good...You understand everything so far," Jesus says.
"When the smaller footprints grew and filled in Yours, I suppose that I was becoming like You in every way?"
"Precisely," He tells you.
"So, Lord, was there a regression or something? The footprints separated, and this time it was worse then the beginning!"
There is a pause as the Lord answers, with a smile in His voice. "You didn't know? It was then that we danced!"
Ecclesiastes 3:1,4
"To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to weep, a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to DANCE."
Weeping may endure for the night---Joy comes in the Morning!
It's not WHAT you have in your life, but WHOM you have in your life that counts...something to think about.
Hi Jen. Thanks again for your uplifting blog. I wanted to ask you a favor. Please say a prayer for me. This past October 22nd would have been Ronnie and my 47th wedding anniversary. It's been a long time now since the split came, but I'm finding it no easier to accept as it was when it first happened. All of these years I've been trying to keep on believing that God will put back together that which satan destroyed, but the longer time goes on the harder it becomes to live with hope. I don't know how or what to pray for any more and my faith is waning the longer this goes on in my life and my families lives. The longer this goes on the more tangled my family gets, and I need the Lord to give me peace over this. Please pray and ask your mom and dad to pray for me and my family. My heart still breaks every day and it's been going on now for over 20 years, but I still try to hold on to hope. I don't know if this is the right place to say these things, but there's not many I have to turn to that would understand where I've been and where I'm coming from. Thanks for the inspiration, and the hope you give in everything you post. I need an answer from God, and peace in my heart.
ReplyDeleteGod bless you and yours, and give your family my love~~ Love and Prayers, Always~~Bertie
Dear Bertie,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry for all the pain you've had to go through. Nothing is more heartrending than family situations.(Past or present.) I will pray that God gives you supernatural peace. I know God can heal your hurts and pray that he does. Sometimes the wounds that go deepest in our spirits and the emotional events that break our hearts are the most difficult to heal. I have experienced a lot of emotional trauma in my life, and understand how difficult it is to gain healing for it. I will ask others to pray for you also. With love and hugs. Jen