Find Religion

Apparently, my post from this morning has disappeared.

Or rather, I forgot to hit the submit button. One of the two

In any case, I’ll rewrite that post later. Right now, I think “the disappearing act” is a much more interesting subject.

I’m sure you’ve all heard the Footprints in the Sand poem, in which the suthor sees his life span before him in a dream as a walk along the beach. He notices that Jesus’ footprints are beside his during the entire life except during the most difficult times, in which there are only one set of footprints.

The man is angry at Jesus, asking why he has disappeared when he needed him most. Jesus replies that during those times in life, he carried the man, which is why you only see one set of footprints.

The “moral” of the poem is that Jesus is always in your life, even when it has seemed he has disappeared.

So I guess the big question is, “Is that true?”

There have been moments in my life when I’m upset, stressed, angry, etc and I have to be honest, I didn’t feel as though there was a magical presense of Jesus or God around me. I’m not sure the Divine is intended to do that, as the poem implies.

Instead, I think that God gives us resources and it’s up to us to us them wisely when we need them. For example, say you were driving in the snow and got a flat tire while you were already late for an important and stressful meeting at work. You may grumble and wonder how God could do this to you…but take a step back. By the grace of God, you were inspired to learn how to change a tire last month, so you can help yourself get back on the road, and you make it to your meeting on time.

Another example. You’ve been dating a guy for a little over a year, when suddenly you find out that he’s been cheating on your for the past six months. He’s been your entire life, and you had hoped to marry him. After a week of nothing but tears and chocolate ice cream, you are still asking yourself how God could send you to a man who was so deceiving.

But, by the grace of God, you found out about his lies before marrying him, right?

It’s like looking at the silver lining. Bad things are going to happen in life, and they happen for a reason–to make us stronger. God hasn’t disappeared from our lives, but Jesus isn’t going to comfort your when you’re well equipped to comfort yourself. That doesn’t mean God has disappeared or does not care. On the contrary, God cares a lot. It’s like the mother bird throwing her babies out of the nest to teach them to fly. At some point, we need to learn to rely on ourselves as much as we rely on God, because that’s the way we can truly find happiness.

Footprints in the Sand, Jesus, God