Footprints

I’ve never been a big fan of the famous Footprints poem. I don’t know if it is the cheesy factor, or the fact that the artwork of many prints are from the 70s and 80s. Certainly it is the theology—the mistaken conception that sometimes we are walking independently from God (there is a more theologically correct parody some may have heard by Peculiar People).

At the same time, God’s carrying us is one of the most beautiful images of our relationship from Scripture. Moses and Israel look back on God’s deliverance of them from Egypt and Moses says, “There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son” (Deut 1:31). God writes through Isaiah, “I have carried you since birth…I have made you and I will carry you” (Is 46:3).

Still, I wonder why I often feel alone; I often feel as if I am sinking (as King David wrote in Ps 69:1: “Save me, O Lord, for the waters have come up to my neck!”). I was carrying one of my young kids recently in a tight spot. I don’t remember the specifics, maybe it was across a busy intersection. But he was clinging to me with great fear, even though I knew he was perfectly safe. Only later in life, as he matures will he look back and see the (relative) strength of his dad’s arms. God, help me to know that no matter how alone I may feel, I am always safe in your arms.

In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them. - Is 63:9