Chaplain Chat

It was at the start of October that my family found ourselves in Esperance on holiday. My wife, two sons (2 yr old + 5 month old) and I had a blast on the pristine white beaches of Lucky Bay and Cape Le Grande National Park. As my eldest son spent his toddler-energy on running along the sand I was reminded of a famous poem called ‘Footprints in the Sand’...

Footprints in the Sand

One night I dreamed a dream.

As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.

Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.

For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,

One belonging to me and one to my Lord.

After the last scene of my life flashed before me,

I looked back at the footprints in the sand.

I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,

especially at the very lowest and saddest times,

there was only one set of footprints.

This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.

"Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,

You'd walk with me all the way.

But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,

there was only one set of footprints.

I don't understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me."

He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you

Never, ever, during your trials and testings.

When you saw only one set of footprints,

It was then that I carried you."

A big part of what I do as Chaplain at ACC is to remind students, staff and families who God is. It’s in knowing more of who God is that we better understand who we really are. This Footprints poem is of unknown authorship, and perhaps is based on a verse in Deuteronomy…

Deuteronomy 1:31

“and in the wilderness. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.”

It’s here we see the God who loves us as a Father loves his child. The God who doesn’t abandon His kids in their distress, but in fact carries us through the most difficult of times. As we get closer to the craziness that the Christmas season can bring, I’d like to encourage you to meditate on this poem and the verse it is based upon - and to fix your eyes on God the Father who is sure to journey with His children, and to carry us when we need it.