“When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled. The clouds poured out water; the skies gave forth thunder; your arrows flashed on every side. The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook. Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen.” (Psalm 77:16-19 ESV)
Are you following the footprints of God? If you are they will surely lead you through the storms of life. We can only see God’s footprints with the eye of faith, but they are surely there. Sometimes we miss them because we mistake our troubles, tragedies, and trials as coming from the devil, which sometimes they are, but never without His permission. But just as the footprints of God led Him into the fiery furnace with three faithful teens, He walks before us in and through every detail of our lives.
The greatest tragedy of our lives isn’t our difficulties and heartaches, it’s facing those seasons without an awareness of God’s Holy presence with us. When my mom dropped dead during the Thanksgiving holiday many years ago, we grieved because we thought she was alone, but she wasn’t. When she fell, she landed in the arms of her Savior. She was never alone for one second. And neither are you, my dear brother or sister.
You’re not experiencing the circumstances in which you find yourself today by accident. If you look closely, you’ll find God’s footprints leading you through the rubble. We never suffer loss without the great gain of God’s holy presence comforting, guiding, equipping, enabling, and supporting us. Our loss is when we fail to realize we’re never alone.
Kneeling by my bed shortly after my divorce, sobbing, feeling alone and without hope, I cried out: “Lord, I’ve lost everything!” To which He responded as clearly as if He’d spoken the words audibly: “You haven’t lost everything because you haven’t lost Me, and I’m all you need!” I was in the fire, but I wasn’t alone.
Where have the Lord’s footprints led you in this season of your life? No matter how dark, lonely, or frightening, keep your eyes on Jesus and you will never lose your way. As I age, my body and mind try to scare me. It’s as if they’re seeking to be a foretaste of things to come, but I refuse to be afraid.
Whatever the future holds for me it won’t be as bad as hanging naked on a Roman cross, like my Savior did when He died in my place and yours. The Lord assures me that whatever my future holds, He holds my future, and I need not be afraid.
A neighbor on my street, whom I hadn’t met, took his own life recently. It’s as if we think we can bypass the pain of dying if we take things into our own hands, but to me it’s a coward’s way out. If I believe the footprints of God will never lead me where the arms of God won’t hold me; if I fail to believe that if I’m alive my life has purpose; if I seek to default on my commitment to live my life to the end for Him; then I’ve failed to follow where He’s leading; I’ve forfeited God’s will for my own.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 