Footsteps

 

With Christ have I been crucified, yet I am living: no longer I, but living in me is Christ.  Now that which I am now living in the flesh, I am living in faith that is of the Son of God, Who loves me and gives Himself for me.

Galatians 2: 20, Concordant New Testament 

If I mentioned the name Marry Stevenson to you, you more than likely would not know who it was I was talking about.  However, if I mentioned the poem "Footprints in the sand," many people would instantly recognize the classic inspirational poem.  Indeed, many Christians and no believers alike have turned to this poem in moments when life seemed insurmountable, or thoughts of their own mortality made them question their beliefs.  The wording has not changed much over the years.  The writer finds herself walking along a beach contemplating her life while conversing with Jesus.  As she looks back on her life, she notices a few of her most troubling times and is confused to discover that in those times only one set of footprints is visible.  When she asks Jesus why He would abandon her when she needed Him most, the Lord smiles and says, "My child, in those times when you see only one set of footprints, it is then that I carried you,"  Tell me, who wouldn't be uplifted by this assurance?  That Jesus Himself, in our weakest moments, would personally carry us through it all.  Knowing this, you'd think that more believers would rest in the assurance of the indwelling Christ, right?  Sadly, that's not the case.  Many Christians continue to cling to the church theology narrative that seems to separate God from His children which He lovingly created.  Church teaching proclaims that Jesus ascended into heaven where He is seated by the Fathers side.  This automatically tells us that God and Jesus are in heaven...and we are here on earth waiting our opportunity to be with them.  Is it any wonder that believers would be drawn to a poem where Jesus proclaims that He carries us in our troubled times?  Who wouldn't want that?  Well, what Mary Stevenson wrote back in 1936 wasn't simply a fictional poem.  The apostle Paul assures us that Christ Himself lives in us {Galatians 2:20}.   Yet we do not hear these assurances coming from the pulpits of the church.  If you were to ask me, the trail of footprints would lead straight out of the church and not down a beach.  

One night a man had a dream

He dreamed he was walking along a beach with the Lord.

Across the sky flashed scenes of his life.

For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand:

One belonging to him, the other to the Lord.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him, 

He looked back at the footprints in the sand.

He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints.

He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.

This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it

"Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,

you'd walk with me all the way.

But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life,

There is only one set of footprints.

I don't understand why, when I needed you most, you would leave me."

The Lord replied,

"my son, my precious child, I love you and I would

Never leave you.  During your times of trial and

suffering, when you see only one set of footprints,

It was then that I carried you."

Mary Stevenson, 1936 

I will say, that I do not blame the author of the poem for assuming that Jesus fled the scene during his most trying times.  I've felt that way myself too many times.  Again, this all goes back to the separation theology of the mainstream church.  God is in heaven with Jesus by His side and we are here struggling on earth.  It is not the Fathers assurance that He will leave us on our own, but mans message.  Through Paul, we have a better understanding of who Jesus is.  Jesus is not the far off overseer we're told that He is.  No, Jesus is our Lord and Savior who lives in us.  I will never be onboard with the teaching that Gods desire is to be removed from His own creation.  As they say, that is fake news.  If I were to update  the Footprints poem I would be sure that the man walking along that beach ALWAYS saw but one set of footprints as he walked through his life moments.  This proclaims Jesus as we are now One with Him.  There is nowhere I go that I do not go as Christ who lives in me.  Easy to proclaim, but not so to put into practice.  As I tell a good friend of mine all the time, we're battling over two thousand years of church teaching and preaching when it comes to the truth of Christ in us.  The revelation of the Father assures us that Christ is in us.  His footprints in the sand are our own. 

~Scott~