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My father was in a nasty car accident last week. I received a phone call from the hospital that my dad was in the emergency room with a fractured femur that would require emergency surgery. I rushed down to the hospital, driving as if my Honda had lights and sirens. Upon arrival to the hospital, I entered the emergency department and began the search for my dad. The hospital security officer told me that he was down the hall to the left. When I saw that there were multiple halls and a variety of lefts, I followed my gut and walked down the first hallway. I peered into room after room, seeing only the bottoms of the feet of patients laying flat in their hospital beds. Finally, I saw a pair of feet that looked familiar to me. I entered the room, looked at the man laying in the bed and immediately identified my dad. Because of my identity as my dad's son and my relationship with him, I was able to recognize him just by seeing the bottoms of his feet.
When believers experience the trails and tribulations of our Christian journey, when we face temptations and spiritual attacks, when we encounter hurts from our pasts or battle pain in our present, it is easy to lose sight of the Father. In times of hurt, sorrow, anger or discouragement, God may seem distant, uncaring and controlling. We project our negative experiences onto a perfect God, who does not seem so perfect in the midst of our chaos. Yet I have learned that if we maintain spiritual and emotional vigilance, we will recognize our Father's feet in one of the hallways of our lives.
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and the follow me" (John 10:27 ESV). God is faithful to speak to us, guide us and lead us through the difficult times of our spiritual adventure. When He speaks, or when He shows His feet, His people will recognize and follow after Him. Draw near unto God, learn about His character and His promises, and He will be continually faithful to show you His feet. True story.
Im not a big fan of chain-emails and stuff like that, but every once in a while I get something worth reading and sharing... And there's one that I got in 2006 that I will always remember and the "feet" subject about this post just made me think of it again...
ReplyDeleteI read it in the morning I was taking my motorcycle driver license exam, something that I had wanted very badly since I had turned 18 (permit age in Brazil), but that every one else kept saying it was a bad idea and I should not do it. I had no help or support from my family and friends about it but I knew how much it meant to me...
So for weeks while taking the classes before the exam I prayed that God would show me if I was being too stubborn for not listening what other people kept telling me and at that very morning of the test I wasnt sure yet about it... so I made a commitment that since I had had to take my car driver license exam 3 times because I was always to nervous to pass it, this time I would only take the test once and if I failed it, I would drop the idea forever.
Again "exam fright" was terrorizing me till I read the story I got from a friend via email that was telling about a person who had a very close relationship with God was reflecting about his life as it was a walking on the beach. During all the way there were two sets of footprints on the sand, showing that Jesus was walking by his side all the time but then he noticed that during the most difficult period of his life, there was just one set of footprints. Hurt and feeling abandoned on his darkest time, the person asked why God had let him walk alone when he needed Jesus the most and the answer was that those footprints were actually Jesus' and the reason that why there was one one pair of feet on the sand was because Jesus had not only being there all the time but also carried the person on his arms during all that hard time...
I remember pretty much all the details of the email, the person who sent it, how it made me feel confident that God would take care of me, no matter what... I remember getting ready at home, driving to the place, meeting my instructor and getting in line for the test. And then just parking the motorcycle at the end of the exam. According to my instructor, I was flawless at an exam I dont even remember taking at all.
I allowed God to take absolutely control of it and He did it. It's been a long time since we were that close, but Im glad your blog made me remind it now (even though the stories are pretty much not connected at all lol)...
But I believe there's no such thing as coincidences so there must be a reason why my brain connected the two things...
hm, guess my last comment was a little bigger that usual. lol
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