Those AREN’T “footprints in the sand…”

By now, everyone in the world (at least everyone with internet access!) has heard the poem, “Footprints in the Sand.” You know, you see two sets of footprints in the sand on the beach of life, but when times got hard, there was only one set of footprints… “Where were you, then, Lord?” you ask as if the Lord had forsaken you. And the Lord says, “The one set of footprints are Mine. During those times I carried you.” It’s moving the first fifteen or twenty times you hear it.

But have you heard this version?

“One night I had a wondrous dream, one set of footprints there were seen.

The footprints of my precious Lord, but mine were not along the shore.

But then some stranger prints appeared, and I asked the Lord, “What have we here?”

“Those prints are large and round and neat, but Lord, they are too big for feet.”

“My child,” He said in somber tones, for miles I carried you alone.”

“I challenged you to walk in faith, but you refused and made Me wait.”

“You disobeyed, you would not grow. The walk of faith you would not know.”
“I had enough. I got fed up, and there I dropped you on your butt.”

Because in life there comes a time / when one must fight and one must climb;

When one must rise and take a stand, or leave their buttprints in the sand.”

Behold, I will do a new thing…

In Isaiah 43:18-19, God told Israel: “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it?” Do you recall the past that God was telling them to forget? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Moses, the exodus, Mount Sinai. The tabernacle, the pillar of fire, the manna. Joshua, Jericho, Gideon, Samson. David, Solomon, the Temple. Elijah, Elisha, and 1300 years of miracles. Forget that?!?

You may have a problem leaving the past behind. Maybe it’s a glorious past (although I doubt it compares to Israel’s!) that you revel in, nostalgically longing for the past. Or perhaps it’s a shameful past that you can’t leave behind, regretting past sins, failures, injuries. God has a word for you today: “Forget the former things! I will do a new thing!”

How do we leave the past behind? The first step may seem counter-intuitive, but we must remember the past. Five times in Deuteronomy, God tells Israel to “remember that you were a slave in Egypt.” God wants us to remember where we came from.

The second step is to deal with the past. Many people can’t deal with the present or face the future because they’ve never dealt with the past. And you can’t deal with it until you remember it. So deal with it. Jesus said, “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother.” Deal with it. Ask forgiveness. Grant forgiveness. Get over it.

The third step is to learn from the past. There is nothing wrong with making mistakes, but there is something wrong with making the same mistakes over and over. Learning from the past enables us to grow in the present and change the future. Success comes from experience and experience comes from making mistakes. But only if we learn from them. But that only can take place when we remember the past and have dealt with it.

The final step is to forget the past. Paul said, “One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call in Christ Jesus.” You can’t press toward the goal if you’re facing backwards! Do you want to break the power of the past? You can’t if you sing, “I believe in yesterday.” Dwell on past failures, and you’ll have many more. Dwell on past victories, and you’ll have no more.

You choose. God wants to do “a new thing” in your life. “Shall you not know it?”