Footprints in the Sand

When I attempt to describe my walk with God, I like to refer to the famous poem by Mary Stevenson known as “Footprints in the Sand” – which, if you are not familiar, goes like this:

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.

In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only.

This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord,

“You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”

The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”

Beautiful, right!? I know. I love it. Graphically, I would represent this journey using the following diagram:

And yet, to extend this beautiful metaphor, my journey with God might often look a bit more like this:

The progress of my journey, more often than not, looks more like God pulling me along to destinations that, despite their benefit, look threatening and uncomfortable. I’m not proud of it – I would much rather have an unhesitating, death-grip kind of faith. But I don’t – sometimes, I just need to be dragged along.
It’s a bit like our first trip to Knott’s Berry Farm, an amusement park in Southern California. Our son, then perhaps 12 years old, had a pronounced fear of roller coasters – even small, slow rides were unappealing to him. This puzzled us greatly, as newish parents, who thought that all kids must, by nature, love and crave thrilling rides.
He just needs some coaxing, we thought. He just doesn’t know how fun it will be!
And that is what we proceeded to do. We knew that if he would only give it a try, he would be a convert. He would enjoy himself, and we would not feel like we had wasted an expensive day at a theme park in vain! We persisted until he, either convinced or exhausted by our prodding, finally gave in. He would ride The Jaguar with his dad, albeit reluctantly and with much anxiety.
Our wait in line involved a continued dialogue which included encouragement, pleading, commanding, threatening, and begging. As a father, I was surprised at the range of emotion that such a seemingly benign decision could evoke. While anger was, admittedly, among the assortment that I felt, my motivation for pushing my son into this activity was love. I wanted him to experience the thrill and pleasure of an amazing ride – the twists and turns, the wind, the rush. And I was committed to persuading him to do it – drag his feet though he might.
I will conclude this anecdote by reporting that he did take the ride, and then proceeded, for the remainder of the day, to repeat the experience eight more times. We were elated! His surprise at enjoying The Jaguar surpassed our own as he requested, over and over again, to go back on the ride. It was the most thrilling experience of his young life.
I think this is how our journey with God can be. God has great things for us, that he wants for us to do. He knows what an incredible ride it will be if we would only trust him and his plan. But we resist. We drag our feet in reluctance or fear or laziness. When we finally acquiesce – when we give in to his coaxing – we are astonished to find that his plan for us was so much better than what we thought it could possibly be.
God has good plans for each of us. They will stretch and push us. We will have to trust Him. But the result is better than we can imagine.
Can you trust a God that has good plans for you? Even in your fear and doubt, God will patiently guide and maybe even drag you toward that which will benefit you. And His joy will surpass yours when you realize how wonderful and amazing it is to walk in his will for you.