Soul Prints

“I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed— I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "that I am God.” (Isaiah 43:11-12)

Footprints. They are the testimony of the journey. They are the carvings that reveal our past. I love to walk along the beach and look back at where I’ve come. In every step we leave a soul print. Every impression is a story. Read between the lines and you’ll unmask the moments that make (and break) a person. Unlike footprints washed away by water or time, our spiritual footprints remain forever.

Footprints also inspire. Sometimes the only reason to take another step is the testament of how far we’ve already come.

The prophet Isaiah understood footprints. They were the “witnesses” that God was God. The Jews had passed through sea, routed mighty armies and enjoyed miraculous blessings. They left holy impressions wherever they wandered. The footprints of a divinely-chosen once-enslaved nation revealed a Savior. When Israel looked back they saw a trail of triumph, a road of revelation and path of provision. God was alive. God was moving with them. God cared. “You think you can be here without me?” God asks. “You think a stick or stone can provide like I?”

After all, idols are idle. They don’t talk or walk. The True God leaves tracks. He still does. If you only care to look.


NOTABLE QUOTABLES ON JOURNEY:

The feeling remains that God is on the journey, too. --Teresa Of Avila

It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end. –Ursula K. LeGuin

If all difficulties were known at the outset of a long journey, most of us would never start out at all. --Dan Rather

Does the road wind up-hill all the way? Yes, to the very end. Will the day's journey take the whole long day? From morn to night, my friend. --Christina Rossetti

The journey is the reward. --Chinese Proverb

Father, life is a long hard journey. It can be both triumph and trial, blessing and burden, opportunity and obstacle. If it wasn’t for the Footprints, we might never remember Your Presence. Thank You for walking with us. Thank You for speaking to us through Your Son, Your Spirit and Your Word. Amen.