I love the poem, Footprints in the Sand, where the person questions Jesus why there was only one set of prints during his difficult time. Jesus replies He didn’t abandoned him, but rather during those hard times is when He carried him. It’s a heartwarming and truthful story, but only if we let it be.
The other day I was letting my mind wander after I prayed and the image of the sandy beach came to mind. Except in my mind, it didn’t play out like the poem. Rather, it played out the way it was happening in my life. Jesus in all His splendor was walking next to me on the beach instead of carrying me. Why? I was down on my stomach crawling through the sand using my elbows and legs. Picture this — you’re watching a military movie where the new recruit is outside in the pouring rain having to crawl on his stomach under a barbed wire in the thickest, blackest mud. Now, picture me doing that. That’s exactly what I was doing on the beach while Jesus was walking next to me. Seems odd, doesn’t it? Let me explain.
I am a very tenacious person, perhaps to the point of being stubborn. When things get hard, I’ll grit my teeth and dig my heels in even more. When someone tells me I can’t do something, I’ll work hard just to prove them wrong. For example: someone said I couldn’t leg press 300 pounds. Well, I did. When some web coding gave me a headache and gray hair, I’d work tirelessly until I solved the issue. Give me a problem or a challenge, and it will be solved.
That attitude has propelled me to accomplish so many things or solve many problems in life. Sometimes it just keeps me going. I will never give up no matter how hard it gets. I love that about me but it also causes me to stumble. Here I am working so hard to propel myself through the mud (aka hard times in life) when Jesus is walking right beside me waiting me for to let Him carry me. No where in the poem does it say, “ . . . and [Lauren] made it through the hard times on her own and didn’t need any help.”
I would love to believe I could make it on my own, but we were not designed to be like that. Christ knows that and that is why He said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” [Matthew 11:28 NIV]. We see this so many times in the Bible where the disciples couldn’t heal others, were afraid of sinking in the ship, etc. Jesus knew we couldn’t handle everything that comes our way.
If you dive into the Bible, God calls us sons and daughters. He is our Father, and we are His children. “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—” [John 1:12 NIV]. Also, take this passage, “Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me . . .’ ” [Matthew 19:14a NIV]. Even though these verses do not link together in the Bible, I feel they do. We are God’s children, and Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me.” Like any child, we are dependent on our parents, like we need to be on our God. He gave us a safe haven to run to when times are hard. For Jesus knew hard times were coming for everyone, including His followers. As He said to His disciples, “You will be hated by everyone because of me . . . The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master.” [Matthew 10:22a, 24].
Take out Christianity completely and you still have people who suffer through hard times. Things come barreling at people like the old saying, “When it rains, it pours.” Life gives everyone more than they can bare at times, but that doesn’t mean any of us has to be in the trenches in the “mud of life”. Jesus is standing there for all of us, Christian and non-Christians alike, saying, “Come to me and I will give you rest.” He’s standing there, with His arms open, telling me the same thing. He wants to be my rescuer, my rest, and to carry me through life’s hard times. He’s waiting for me to fall into His arms so He can carry me. First though, I have to realize, I can’t handle everything thrown at me, but my God can.
Jesus will never force us to do anything, but will patiently be there for you no matter how long it is. Don’t be like me, let go of your tenacity and rest in the promises and arms of Christ. Therefore, your story will be footprints in the sand rather than elbows in the trenches.
Keeping the perspective,
Lauren
You. Are. Beautiful. 
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