You know that popular story about the set of footprints in the sand and Jesus? It goes like this:
"One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky. In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only. This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord, “You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?” The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”
One of the things I had tortured myself with after Max died was the guilt from not "being there" when he died, when he was thrown around inside the vehicle and then ejected on to the side of the highway. I thought that if I could have been there to "catch him", somehow my super-mom strength would have saved him. The guilt and the thought are both irrational, and I have wrestled with the Lord about this many times over the past 15 months. He finally painted me a very vivid picture in my mind of how HE CAUGHT MAX, and took him right into HIS PRESENCE. The picture was much the same as the one set of footprints. It wasn't Max's form that made the markings in the grass, it was Jesus' hand, palm up, cradling his precious body. He caught Max when I couldn't be there, and that was His intention all along. That was the means to escort him to heaven. He took him in a split second, Max did not feel any pain. God caught him.
As you all know, my friend Jeanie died last week from a fall. And praying about her loss, the Lord again showed me that HE CAUGHT HER TOO. His hand was outstretched and just waiting to catch her, and He did as He took her to heaven. We here on earth don't get to see His hand, but we know on faith that it was there. I like to imagine the rapture will be the same thing ... one second we will be here, and the next, our bodies will be lifeless on the ground, as God snatches up our souls and ushers us in to the most beautiful place ever created to spend eternity with Him.
Thank you, Lord, for giving me such a clear picture of how you care for us, in life and in death. Thank you for catching both Max and Jeanie. Thank you for helping me see how your hand protects us each and every second of life, even that moment where we kiss this world goodbye.
2 comments:
Very powerful thought. Our son was hit on the side of the interstate just after midnight. It took about 3 hours for them to find him in the darkness. For a while I wrestled with the pain of him being alone for 3 hours (we were assured of his instant death, but to think he was just OUT THERE by himself for three hours was so painful). Then God reminded me one day that JR was never alone ... not even for one second. HE was there with him. And that's better than me being there with him. I couldn't help him, but God could take him to his true home. Thanks for reminding me of this...sharing our pain brings healing and hope to others.
JD, oh, my heart hurts reading about your son being out there for 3 hours, it would have torn me up too. You are so right, God was with him, he was NEVER alone. Blessings.
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