One Set of Footprints

Today at church we were discussing how we can follow the Savior, serve the Savior and know our Savior.  The teacher used the poem “Footprints in the Sand.”  If you don’t know this poem, pause and go read it.   After reading the last two stanzas  the teacher pointed out that if we truly knew our Savior we would recognize his footprints in the sand and not have to ask the question, “Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”   I like her thinking here and hope desperately that I will recognize my Savior when I meet him but it got me thinking, do I actually agree with this poem?  And guess what? I don’t.

The concept behind this poem is that in the hardest times of our lives the Savior will scoop us up and carry us.  People may have experienced this feeling, I personally have not.  Because in my hardest times in life I find my options are either to sit down and pout (essentially stalling out any progress and frankly making the hard time much worse) or I can choose to move forward no matter how hard.

My question here is do I truly believe the Lord would carry me? Being carried is passive.  Anyone can be carried. But isn’t the point of this existence to become more like him?  To be tested, even if it is super hard? 

See I don’t believe we only see one set of footprints because the Lord decided it was too hard and scooped us up. I hope these are the moments when I quit trying to walk my own path, quit believing I could walk side by side with the Lord. I hope it is a sign that I started fully trusting the path Heavenly Father has set for me. I didn’t trust my footing and so I stopped, listened and very deliberately tried placed my feet in the correct places.  Is it one set of footsteps because this is when I truly began following my Lord?

Wouldn’t it be more profound to look back at your life and find that at some point you truly committed to being a follower of Christ and so from then on, just one trail was found?  My Savior gave his life for me.  He died so that I could try. I don’t want to look back on my life and see pout prints in the sand, I don’t want to choose to be carried.  He died so I could try.  I want to try.  I want to be able to always be progressing and hopefully aligning my path to always be more in sync with my Saviors.