Footprints

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed
he was walking along 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 him,
he looked back at the footprints in the sand.

He noticed that many times along the path of
his life there was only one set of footprints.

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 son, my precious child,
I love you and I would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you."
                      (Carolyn Joyce Carty)

I know this is a very commonly known poem, it is used frequently amongst Christians. It is a fantastic image for life, whether we are Christian or not God walks beside us daily ready for any time we may need him. Even if we can't or won't see Him, He is there. Carrying us when we are unable to walk any further or ready to collapse beneath the weight of the world.

Psalm 23:4 (KJV)  

    Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 

This verse says almost exactly the same as the poem Footprints but from a different angle. If we know we have God then not even the worst things in life should worry us. Yet being human we will struggle to allow God to be there for us, we will struggle against Him as he carries us.

I want at this point to apologise for posting another dark and depressing post. I have much to be thankful and happy for right now, but I am feeling very isolated and cut off at the moment. Due to circumstances I am not able to attend the Church I wish to be at regularly and I am not able to spend time with the friends that I want to see very often. These two things have been fantastic anchors for me this past year, providing me with support as and when I have needed it. If it was not for this support I can honestly say I would not be here writing this post. I have no idea what route my life would have taken but it would not have been the positive path that it has been. 

It is our lot in life as humans to face dark periods, it is the nature of the enemy to try and drag us down when we feel our highest. But remember we have the best defence in the world, Prayer. It is our link to God, it is our weapon and it is our defence. As I mentioned in the post on Genesis 22 God has his plans, it has always been planned out. And it is the best plan there is, there could be non better. We may not understand it, we may not understand why we have to suffer or struggle as we do but be sure God will use it all to his advantage. 

Romans 8:28 (NLT)
     And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

Whatever the reasons for things being the way they are, you can be guarantee that God will be working through it to produce something good. In my post on painting with dark colours I talk about how God can bring happiness, joy and goodness from bad situations. We just need to learn to fully rely on God in all things and for all things.

To finish I would like to backtrack into this post a little bit. Earlier I mentioned the fact that I am currently a long way from my friends and Church who have done so much for me over the last year. There are two friends who I feel I should thank especially. Despite the fact that I am not always the easiest person to deal with or be around, the fact that I am far from perfect, they seem to always have time to help, listen and talk when I need it. So for that reason I am saying a public thanks to them, I won't name them as they will know who they are and I know they don't do it for the thanks or to "play" the part. At the same time I would like to thank anyone who reads this, I use this as an outlet to pour out the rubbish in my mind yet it appears some people do read it and possibly even like it, although I am not sure on the second point. Please feel free to leave comments or message me on jerrathorn@gmail.com.

Painting with dark colours

I am not sure if I have mentioned this before, but there is an amazing quote that I love from the film Bruce Almighty. It never made it in to the full edit of the film but is on the DVD as a deleted scene. In the scene God and Bruce are talking about helping people and giving them everything they want. While discussing it God says to Bruce:
God: Triumph is born out of struggle, faith is the alchemist. If you want pictures like these, you'll need to use some dark colours. 
This single line in my opinion is one of the best answers to the question, "Why does God let bad things happen?" This can be a very difficult question for anyone at any stage of their spiritual journey, and it is something I personally have been thinking about. After losing Grandad and then Gramma very shortly after my family did to some extent face the "why us God?" question. Why after everything that we have faced over the recent past now dump this on us? The answer that "God moves in mysterious ways" is useless to anyone. We all know we will never understand God, but repeating this sound bite does nothing to alleviate the pain felt. For me the question should not be "Why did God let this happen to me?" it should be more of a question of, "What can God teach me from this situation?" Having only recently come back to my faith, which was catalysed by grief, I was slightly surprised by my reaction. I find myself not actually sad for the loss of my family members, don't get me wrong I miss them hugely, however I don't fell much sadness. When they first passed I cried and felt a huge loss, but very quickly I noticed that I could not feel sad as I knew they had been called to a much better place. When I realised this it surprised me as I had not realised how deep my faith had become rooted in to my very being. And it is true that even when God paints with dark colours we can learn valuable lessons. Having been through everything that I have I can honestly say my faith and belief is much stronger and more deeply rooted than it has ever been. I know I have much to work on and that I will never be finished working at my faith but to see myself that I have come so far gives me courage and strength to carry on.