One night, a man had a dream.
He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Across the sky, scenes from his life flashed.
For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand:
One belongs to him, and 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 his life's path, 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."
A Psalm of Life by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.
The Objects of Life by George Wyte Melvin
To tell of the great example, the Man of compassion and woe;
Of footprints left behind Him, in the earthly path He trod,
And how the lowest may find Him, who straitly walk with God.
The Education of the Sons of God by Charles Haddon Spurgeon
And did you ever walk out upon that lonely desert island upon which you were wrecked, and say, "I am alone, — alone, — alone, — nobody was ever here before me"?
And did you suddenly pull up short as you noticed, in the sand, the footprints of a man? I remember right well passing through that experience, and when I looked, lo!
It was not merely the footprints of a man that I saw, but I thought I knew whose feet had left those imprints; they were the marks of One who had been crucified, for there was the print of the nails. So I thought to myself, "If he has been here, it is a desert island no longer."
An elderly man, who had lived his life and had left this world to meet his Maker, asked the Lord a question.
"As I'm looking down on the paths I've trodden, I see two sets of footprints on the easy paths.
But down the rocky roads, I see only one set of footprints.
"Tell me, Lord, why did you let me go down all those hard paths alone?"
The Lord smiled and simply replied, "Oh, my son, you've got that all wrong!
I carried you over those complex paths."
The pilgrim arrived in heaven, and God said to him, "Would you like to see where you've come from?"
When the pilgrim responded that he would, God unfolded the story of his whole life, and he saw footprints from the cradle to the grave.
There were not only the pilgrims' footprints, but another set of prints alongside.
The pilgrim said, "I see my footprints, but whose are those?"
And the Lord said, "Those are My footprints. I was with you all the time."
Then they came to a dark, discouraging valley, and the pilgrim said, "I see only one set of footprints through that valley.
I was so discouraged. You were not there with me. It was just as I thought–I was so all alone!"
Then the Lord said, "Oh, but I was there. I was with you the whole time.
You see, those are MY footprints. I carried you all through that valley."
Author unknown
A young woman who was going through hard times ... began to pray to God for help.
Suddenly, in her mind's eye, she saw two sets of footprints side by side on a sandy pathway.
Immediately, her spirits lifted, as she interpreted this to mean that God was with her and walking beside her.
Then the picture changed. She now saw the footprints in a vast desert wilderness, and instead of two sets, there was only one.
Why was God no longer beside her? As despair settled back over her, she began to cry.
Then the inner voice of God softly spoke and said, "I have not left you. The one set of footprints is mine.
You see, I am carrying you through the wilderness."
