God’s Footprints

footprints

The morning after a recent snowfall, I stepped onto the porch and saw footprints in our backyard. From the spacing, I knew they came from the white-tailed deer we often see on our property. Still, I delighted in seeing them, envisioning the deer silently stepping through the snow on their way to their daytime hideaways in the woods.

I also delight in seeing God’s footprints. Unlike the deer’s tracing a path through our yard, His are everywhere we look: in the smiles on children’s faces over the holidays, in the food gracing our tables, in creation, in Scripture, in the tapestry of our lives. We can’t go anywhere and not see evidence of His footprints.

Footprints – in the Past

winter winds blow the snow
Congerdesign – Pixabay

Footprints fill our lives in one way or another. During my youth, we often had deep snowfalls, and because our house sat beside an open cornfield, the winter winds would blow the snow from the field into our yard, filling our driveway with high snowdrifts. I have a photo somewhere of my dad standing on top of our car, with a shovel pushed through the snow up to its handle touching the the car beneath!

Of course, with such deep snow, walking caused troubles for us as kids. We loved taking walks in the snow, but lifting our snowpants-clad legs high enough to get them out of the snow and step into the next drift wasn’t easy to do. Gratefully, our daddy knew we’d have troubles and blazed a trail for us, stomping his long legs into the snow. All we had to do was follow his footprints. They not only made the path easier, but also made it safer, in case of any pockets in the drifts or fallen branches hidden beneath it.

Footprints – to Follow

footprints in the snow
Neelane – Pixabay

In Scripture, God left footprints for us to follow so our journey through life might be easier and safer. If I ignored my daddy’s prints and tried stepping into the pristine whiteness on my own, I quickly got into trouble and needed to be pulled out by someone bigger and stronger than me. So it happens when we stray from those footprints God left for us in His Word.

Father John Henry Hanson said in a 2023 post titled, “Following in His Footprints: Accompanying the Lord”: “If you want to go forward without stumbling or wandering off the path, then all you have to do is walk the road He walked, placing your feet in His footprints.” To me, that title tells it all. My daddy made the path for us, but he didn’t leave and let us travel it by ourselves, knowing we may stray and get into trouble. God is the same. Our Heavenly Father accompanies us on our journey; our part is to step into His footprints.

Footprints – to Learn

Let’s look at a few of the deepest, clearest prints God left for us, many we know by heart but often ignore their help. These selections all come from Proverbs 3 (NLT):

  • 1 – Store my commands in your heart.
  • 3 – Never let loyalty and kindness leave you!
  • 5 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
  • 6 – Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.
    • (Can’t be much clearer than that!)
  • 7 – Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
  • 9 – Honor the Lord with your wealth.
  • 11 – Don’t reject the Lord’s discipline.
    • (Those are hard steps to follow.)
  • 21 – Don’t lose sight of common sense and discernment.
  • 27 – Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it’s in your power to help them.
  • 30 – Don’t pick a fight without reason.

Quite a list, don’t you think? And that’s just from one chapter in Proverbs. Of course, the deepest footprint God left for us was in Jesus’s words in John 14:6 (NLT): “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

Footprints – of Legacy

Later in the day after seeing the deer prints, I noticed the snow melting and dissolving the marks of their footsteps. Now, they would only be a memory, but each time I think of them, I smile, remembering that several of God’s lovely creatures walked across our land.

Over each of our histories, our ancestors have left behind their footprints to show us the paths they followed on their pilgrimages through life. Some may have had it hard, like my grandparents whose early married years were hit first by The Great Depression and then by WWII. When I consider their steps, I see a legacy of giving.

Stephen Rinke – Pixabay

With their meager rations, they still found enough to give food to hoboes and other strangers. My grandfather, the quintessential jack-of-all-trades, offered his services free of charge to anyone in need of help. During the leanest of times, they raised my mom and her brother, who both became people who gave of themselves readily. Footprints of sacrifice, generosity, honesty, hard work, and love of family and country. Now, that’s a path I’d like to follow.

Footprints – for Studying

At some point in my life, probably because of my dad’s lessons on tracking animals, I became interested in the various footprints of the critters in our area. I bought books with track guides and taught our daughters about them, as my dad had me. We would take walks at the local park, always stopping at muddy holes or along creek beds to check for tracks.

If we saw some, we’d get out our guidebook to identify them. We laughed over the tracks of some animals, such as the opossum, and we deliberated over others, such as the differences and similarities between a fox and a coyote track or a dog and a cat (dogs’ nails show, cats’ are retracted). My favorites were the raccoon and the deer. And once in the woods near our cabin in Potter County, PA, we saw bear tracks!

The way our girls and I studied those tracks, looking for nuances of differences—especially in bird tracks—makes me think of how God wants us to search the Scriptures carefully, looking for the truths He put there for us. We search for those footprints through guidebooks such as concordances and Bible dictionaries. We learn about them (Psalm 119:15—I will study your commandments and reflect on your ways.); meditate on them (Psalm 119:23—I will meditate on your decrees..); and memorize them (Psalm 119:11—I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you).

God’s footprints. We seek them, see them, follow them … and then, we leave our own.

Footprints – of Our Own

What will our footprints look like? Will our children and grandchildren make sure to step in our tracks to lead them safely and easily along this journey of life? Will our footprints lead them to Scripture where they will seek God’s? And will they then follow His, as we did and do?

Sure, they’ll look a bit different to them as they study and interpret God’s messages specifically written for them. But they’re there—in the Bible, in our homes, and everywhere their journey takes them. All we … and they have to do is just take that first step into the “snow” and blaze a trail for those behind.

God’s footprints—guidance, help, light, and life along our path, just as it says in Psalm 119:105—Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. Walk in His footprints and live your best life!

 

Cathy Mayfield

Cathy and her husband, along with their German shepherd mix, Kenai, enjoy watching deer in the woods, hearing owls at night, and discovering turtles in the yard of their home. With her homeschool years a memory now, she delights in serving Jesus through writing and teaching writing at conferences. But over all that, she'd rather be reading or playing games with her five marvelous grandchildren!

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5 comments

  1. Cathy I love this picture of walking in the footprints God leaves for us to follow Him!
    And I relate to studying tracks!
    Thank you for oainting sone beautiful truths for us’!

  2. I’m so glad my ancestors left clear footprints. May I do the same for any who come behind me.

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