“Footprints” is a poem of uncertain authorship that describes a man walking along a beach with Jesus Christ and he looks back and sees two sets of footprints - one for him and one for Jesus. But he also notices that there are certain stretches, the hardest parts of his life in fact, where there is only one set of footprints. The man is confused and angry and asks the Savior why He seems to have abandoned him in his moments of greatest need. Jesus explains that the parts with only one set of footprints is when He carried the man. This is a beautiful illustration of our reliance on Jesus and what He is willing to do for us, even to carry us when necessary. But may I propose a secondary reason why there were only one set of footprints in the sand? Could it be that there is only one set of footprints because there are certain times that we are so dedicated to following Christ with all our hearts and doing just as He would do that we manage not merely to walk in the same general direction as Him but we manage to walk in His exact footsteps? “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” (1 John 2:6). Christ will walk by our side if we let Him, or follow behind if He must, but if we have the humility to let Him go before our face and prepare the way, then we have the opportunity to walk exactly where He walked, down to the putting our feet in His footprints. In a way, this is almost better than Him carrying us because not only do we get to go through the only path that will get us out of our present difficulties, but we will be able to do it on our own two feet. I have been carried by the Savior many times and I expect that I will need Him to carry me many more times still. But I hope that when I look back at my life and see the parts where there is only one set of footprints in the sand, at least some of the time it is because I was able to walk even as He walked, exactly in His footsteps.
