The LORD lifts me up

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 son, my 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,it was then that I carried you."




I have felt the need to write about something for a while. I thought of this poem and how it fits what I have been pondering. See, I have suffered from depression for more than half my life. If I really thought about it, probably most of my life, certainly since I started adolescence. As I have gotten older I have learned to deal with the lows that come, most of the time it is a matter of a day or two, sometimes more. Usually it is pretty mild, sometimes not so much. As I have grown in my faith in GOD, I have (mostly) had an easier time 'riding it out'. Recently though, I had a tough time, partly because of some meds that I was on for my asthma. Being a pretty private person, I didn't tell many people what was going on, but I did confide in a few people pretty regularly. For a while I got to the point where I was really depending on those two people to make me feel 'normal'. I was placing an unfair amount of importance on whether I talked to them, got an email from them, saw them. And if I didn't, I didn't feel ok. Now that I am on the other side of that, I realize that was unfair to them, and unfair to me. And it wasn't a good use of my faith. As a Christian, I am to put my faith in GOD, I am to worship HIM, and call on HIM for strength. For certain, HE put my friends in my life to support and love me, to help me when I am down. But they are tools HE is using to help me up. If being with them and talking to them helps me feel better, great. But I can be ok without their presence, because I have HIS presence all the time. How very blessed I am to have the support of my sisters in CHRIST, but the real blessing is knowing that even if I had none of them, I still have HIM.

LORD, I thank YOU for the people YOU have placed in my life to help me when I am struggling. Please help me to remember that YOU are the strength that lifts me up, and those in my life are merely tools YOU are using to accomplish that. Please help me to remember that YOU are all I need to dig myself out of the pit I sometimes find myself in. Thank YOU for carrying me when I struggle.