Christ

“In His Steps”

Leona B. Gates

“The road is rough,” I said, “dear Lord;

These stones, they hurt me so.”

He said, “Dear child, I understand;

I walked it long ago.”

“But there’s a cool green path,” I said,

“I’ll walk there for a time.”

“No child,” He gently answered me.

“The green road does not climb.”

“My burden, Lord, is far to great,

How can I bear it so?”

“My child,” said He, “I know its weight;

I bore my cross, you know.”

“I wish there were some friends with me,

Who’d make my way their own.”

“Ah, yes,” He said, “Gethsemane

Was hard to face alone.”

And so I climbed the stony path,

Content at last to know,

That where my Master had not gone,

I would not need to go.

And strangely then I found new friends,

The burden grew less sore,

As I remembered— long ago,

He went this way before.

FOOTPRINTS

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him, and the other to the Lord.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life, there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.

This really bothered him, and he questioned the Lord about it. “Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, you’d walk with me all the way. But, I have noticed that

during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why. When I needed you most, you would leave me.”

The Lord replied, “My precious, precious child, I love you, and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints in the sand, it was then that I carried you.”