Footprints in the Sand (excerpted)
…“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.”
Mary Stevenson, 1936
Don’t you love the times in life when you look back and can see how God your Father carried you through difficult days, weeks, even years? Or perhaps He stood in your way and kept you from harm when you wanted to plunge ahead right into it? Either way, in hindsight, it is a beautiful thing to see how the Lord was right there every step of the way to lift you.
Hello! My name is Laurie and I blog at Scene of Sublime. I am so honored to share a brief story of a life experience in which I Realized God’s Love for Me as part of Love of Family and Home’s 31 Series.
Okay, so it’s one thing to look back and see God’s hand, but what about seeing it while it is actually happening? Whoa, right?! Well, it happened to me dramatically one day many years ago…
Back in the early to mid 1990s when I was in grad school about 100 miles away from home, I drove a used car that ran pretty well most of the time. I was on my way home for a visit one Friday afternoon, back before I had a cell phone. I was about halfway home and several miles between highway exits when one of my tires not only went flat, it completely blew out!
Oh my goodness. Was I unnerved! At least it was daylight! Still, I had NO CLUE what I should do. I frantically starting praying and my mind was just a-racing, “Should I start walking the several miles it would take to get to a telephone? Should I wait here? Should I flag someone down?” I am a lifelong crime/mystery buff, so I was very leery of this last option, knowing what end I may come to if I called on a stranger for help.
I decided to get out and look for a police car coming down my side of the highway for a few minutes and try to flag one down. I don’t mind telling you, I was pretty panicked at this point. My prayers were just desperate! I didn’t even know how the police could help me, I just knew they surely had to do SOMETHING! haha
It wasn’t even two minutes until a police car came up and pulled over. I was so relieved though still a little nervous about how to deal with the issue at hand. Still, though, so grateful!
The officer got out and came over to me. I could NOT believe my eyes! It was a guy who was a friend of a girl I worked with in high school!!!! I worked part-time at a local bakery in my hometown after school and on Saturdays and my coworker had a guy friend who often came into the bakery to see her…now he is walking up to me as a highway patrol officer in another town, stopping to help me with my tire!
GOD, HOW GREAT YOU ARE!
Not only was he glad to see me, he changed my tire for me and made sure I would be safe getting back home on my spare!!!! How very plain-as-the-nose-on-my-face God cared for me that day!!! (and every other day, too, I know!)
What happened that day changed me forever! It gave me tangible evidence right in front of my own eyes of how God cares for me ~ no doubt how He cares for me EACH and EVERY day of my life! How comforting it is to me to know His very presence is so near!
I just bet, if I stopped and looked more closely more often, I would see my Father’s presence all over the place in my life! Maybe not always as dramatically. But always just as meaningfully. Thank you, God, for showing me Your love!
Cast your burden upon the LORD, and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken. ~ Psalm 55:22
And thanks again to Tonya for allowing me to participate in her 31 Days series. I’ve certainly enjoyed being part of it and would love for any of you to visit me anytime over at Scene of Sublime. May God bless you and yours greatly!
Chronically Yours, Laurie
I am loving all these stories!
ReplyDeleteMy moment happened in the frozen food section of Walmart one day... and I came to see the face of God in a 20-something black kid who helped me find what I was looking for.
ReplyDeleteI was having a really bad phase of life--down on all aspects of myself.
My Sunday School study was reading a book (Captivating) that emphasized how we women should be "lovely" in our lives.
I stopped in for a quick grab-and-go for my supper and this guy helped me find my ingredient and, as I was turning to go, he said to me, "Can I just say, Ma'am, you look lovely today."
What??
I knew right then that God was giving me just the little boost I needed to make it thru that day. How did I know?
How often has someone said "you look lovely"?
I've had the occasional "you look nice" or "pretty top", but NEVER told I was "lovely". And THAT was the word that kept recurring in my study.
It was so, so small. But it was a word from God that I needed right then and right there.