Brother Lawrence
There is a famous picture called Footprints in the Sand that describes a story where the writer asks God where he was when the writer was going through a tough time in life. God responds saying you saw the two sets of footprints when you were aware of my presence but then when trials came you saw only one set of footprints and assumed they were yours and you were going this alone. Whereas the truth is they were my footprints as I was carrying you.
We assume that God comes and goes, yet that is the opposite of what God tells in scripture where he says I will be with you always or I will never leave you or forsake you.
God’s ongoing help is ongoing. It is always there. We miss it when we run out ahead of him, like a child running ahead of his parent only to stop and look around and not see his parent and feel that his parent left him. In reality, the parent was always there, the child just needed to turn back and run to his parent.
God is always there, always, ongoing, never stopping. The best, fastest, and only thing we have to do is to turn and run back to him. The quicker we do this the sooner we will experience his presence once again. This does not mean the external circumstance will be gone yet it does mean that we will feel the peace we learned about that transcends our understanding. This is the simple but profound message of Jesus.
We will always be tempted to run ahead, as this too is a truth of our life here on earth. So, don’t be surprised when you experience this ebb and flow of God’s presence. Rather, remember it is not God leaving you, it’s you being out of step with him. Just remember to turn around and hurry home.
Just a Thought…
