Feet

Today, as I was reading Scripture, there was this one, small phrase that stood out:

Psalm 77:19, "Though your footprints were not seen..." (NIV).

It's probably ridiculously ironic that this is what caught my attention.  Something unseen.  Huh.

I have never been a real fan of the poem, "Footprints in the Sand".  I think there are a variety of reasons for this, one of them being that it was pretty severely overused and became sort of cliché' to me, when I was growing up.  But I think, at the core, it's difficult for me to imagine a God who carries us in such a way that we no longer recognize God's presence.  This may be why I laughed out loud... literally... to the point of pain... when I first ran across this comic:

 

Except, that's not right, either, of course.  Jesus doesn't drag us anywhere kicking and screaming.  This is not to be confused with the idea that we never go anywhere kicking and screaming.  That happens, to be sure.  But it's not forced.  We always have a choice. 

I recently preached that in the most difficult times God may come so close that we no longer see him, because there is no distance between us.  So, I get it.  But there is an enormous difference in not seeing and not knowing. 

Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see" (NIV).

I may have used this verse before.  Sometimes I need to read things more than once... or twice... or a zillion times...

It's OK when we don't see God.  It has to be. 

God is still near.  God is still holding us.  Rest in that.

L.