Day Nine | March 3 NINE

The Rock of My Perspective

When our lives are built on the solid rock of Jesus, we start to change our perspective. We start to be aware that things are not what they seem. What we think and how we feel may not reflect reality. God has a view of the world that is bigger than ours, and we need to learn to think with the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5).

We may not recognize the name Margaret Rose Powers but more than likely we have read her famous poem, “Footprints.” Years ago, she wrote an article that shared the story behind her famous poem.

In the summer of 1964, Margaret was 20 years old and was recovering from meningitis on the family farm in Tillsonburg, Ontario. With meningitis, she was confined to bed for most of the summer. It was a di cult time for her, she wrote, “I’ve never felt so empty and afraid.” One August evening, she wrote in her diary, “Lord, have You left me too?”

An unusual chain of events took place. Her brother invited her out to dinner hoping to cheer her up. On their way, they ran into one of his friends who asked to join them. Later, the man who joined them for dinner, Paul, would ask Margaret out on a date. Months passed and, in early autumn, Paul asked Margaret to marry him. They went for a walk along the shore of Lake Erie. “The waves hissed into bubbles at our feet,” she recalled. “Paul stopped suddenly and pointed back at our tracks in the sand. ‘See our footprints, Margie? On the day we marry, they will become like one set, not two.’”

That night, the image of footprints stayed with Margaret. She could not sleep, so she began writing in her diary. “Dear Lord, I finally prayed, where are You now, when I need you so badly?” Then, as if in a dream, she wrote, “I saw a story unfolding in my mind’s eye. My pen took over as I began writing it out. I saw myself walking along a beach with the Lord, and scenes from my life flashed before us. But during the most painful scenes, I noticed only one set of footprints was left in the sand. I asked the Lord where He had been when I needed Him most. Then I wrote down His reply:

‘My precious child, I love you and will never leave you.

When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you.’”

Her words have inspired millions. They say to us that we need to see life from God’s perspective. Anytime we think we have God figured out, we are probably wrong. Anytime we think we are in control, we are definitely wrong. Instead, we live by the wisdom of 2 Corinthians 4:16-18: “So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary a iction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.”