Footprints

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking alond the beach with the LORD. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand; one belonging to him, and the other to the LORD.
WHen the last scene of his life flashed before himm, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times alond the path of his life there was only one set of footprings. 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 precious, precious child, I love you and I would never leace you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

That story was on a card I picked up at church one day. I've kept it in my wallet ever since. It reminds me that when I'm going through a tough time, the LORD will help me out. When I'm going through one of the toughest times, the LORD will carry me. So if you're walking through the valley, and it turns into, say, the Grand Canyon, let the LORD carry you and you will make it through. There's strength in the LORD; don't be afraid to use it when you need it.

In Christ,
Kyle

Through the Valleys

I was listening to my iPod (again) and came across the song "Mountain of God" by Third Day. It's an amazing song about strength and God's love. It starts off like this:

Thought that I was all alone
Broken and afraid
But You were there with me
Yes, You were there with me

And I didn't even know
That I had lost my way
But You were there with me
Yes, You were there with me

God is always with us. When we're broken, afraid, belittled, and overwhelmed, God helps us. Let Him be in you and you will make it through. Speaking of making it through...

Even though the journey's long
And I know the road is hard
Well, the One who's gone before me
He will help me carry on
After all that I've been through
Now I realize the truth
That I must go through the valley
To stand upon the mountain of God

For me, this is the most uplifting and powerful part of the song. It tells us that everybody has a long, hard journey, but God's there to help those who have faith. The last two lines are my favorites. There are mountains (ups) and valleys (downs) in everyone's lives. We have to learn how to face those downs with God.

I talked about this before, I believe, in the "Courage in Faith" article. When we are walking through life's valleys, we must have faith. Walk tall through life's challenges, knowing God is always at your side, helping you on. And when you're too weak to walk, and you think you can't go on, the LORD will carry you. But that's another article for another day. That will be continued in tomorrow's article "Footprints".

credits: Lyrics from the song "Mountain of God" by Third day. Lyrics were taken from azlyrics.com