God Is With Us In Our Worry

Footprints

One night I dreamed a dream.
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. When the last scene of my life shot before me
I looked back at the footprints in the sand
and to my surprise,
I noticed that many times along the path of my life
there was only one set of footprints.
I realized that this was at the lowest
and saddest times of my life.
This always bothered me
and I questioned the Lord about my dilemma.

“Lord, you told me when I decided to follow You,

You would walk and talk with me all the way. But I’m aware that during the most troublesome
times of my life there is only one set of footprints.
I just don’t understand why, when I needed

You most,
You 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.”

©1964 Margaret Fishback Powers

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Fretting and a kitchen blender have a lot in common. With the push of a button the contents of a blender are whirled and swirled until they become a frothy mixture. In our lives, worry gnaws away at us until our lives become a churned jumble. But God doesn’t want us to live “blender-ized” lives.

Fretting easily leads to worry; worry casts a big shadow over small problems — a shadow that should never cross our lives.

When the outlook is not good, we should not fret. We need a change of perspective to realize that God sees tomorrow more clearly than we see yesterday. The future is completely in His hands!

Don’t fret! Cheer up! Neither the sun, nor the Son, has gone out of business. He is with us. A new day will dawn and the Lord will bring Himself to the center of our problems.

Remember, worry will only tie us in knots. Prayer is the only way to cut short our fretting — to cut those knots of worry and care and grant us God’s peace instead.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. — Philippians 4:6-7

How can fretting lead to worry?

What does Jesus say about the consequences of worrying in Matthew 6:27-30?

Consider the things you worry about.

What happens to your worry when you change your perspective and realize that God holds your tomorrow in His hands?

Read Jeremiah 17:7-8.

What does it look like in your life to be rooted by your trust in the Lord? How can these roots support you when worry threatens to overwhelm you?

But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. — Jeremiah 17:7-8

Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.” — Luke 12:22-23

Excerpted with permission from Footprints by Margaret Fishback Powers, copyright Margaret Fishback Powers.

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Your Turn

Make a list of the worries you’re giving over to the Lord. Sit and think about it. Whatever takes your gaze off of him and sends you whirling and swirling has got to go! ~ Devotionals Daily