In His Arms

Have you ever seen someone walking alone and barefoot on a stony road? In our world of inconsistencies, some people pay a small fortune for multiple pairs of shoes, while more than 500 million people across the globe do not have a single pair of shoes to wear. A creative initiative to help with this problem is National Shoe the World Day, observed in the United States on March 15.

It creates awareness of the worldwide need and encourages people to donate their used running shoes. So, one’s used shoes can become the first pair of shoes for someone else! Besides providing running shoes to the needy, we should also assure them that they will never walk alone, as expressed in the poem “Footprints in the Sand.” There are at least three versions of this poem, written by different authors. Most likely, the original was penned in 1936 by a poor fourteen-year-old girl, Mary Stevenson.

It reads as follows: One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.

In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.

Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only. This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord, “You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?” The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you”. This poem reflects an amazing reality: God is close to us during the most crucial moments. In the darkest days of our lives, He is carrying us in His arms, and nobody can remove us from His loving care. You can trust in Him.