Yellow Footprints

A couple of weeks ago, Laurie and I had the incredible privilege of attending a United States Marine Corps graduation at MCRD San Diego.

If you have ever been there, you know about the yellow footprints.

They are among the first places a new recruit stands when arriving at MCRD. They step onto those footprints as one person, but what follows is a process of training, instruction, discipline, surrender, and preparation. They are learning that what lies ahead is about something greater than themselves.

That day, we watched those young men and women graduate as United States Marines.

As I watched them, I couldn’t help but think about something the Lord had been putting on my heart as I prepared to share at prayer.

There is nothing we cannot bring before our King.

No hurt is too deep.

No circumstance is too complicated.

No relationship is too broken.

No diagnosis is too frightening.

No situation has gone on too long.

Nothing is beyond the throne of grace.

A couple of weeks before that, I had written about four words Jesus spoke to Jairus after he received the devastating news that his daughter had died:

“Do not be afraid; only believe.”
Mark 5:36

Those words stayed with me.

But I’ve been thinking about a question:

How?

How do we “only believe” when everything we see tells us something different?

How do we pray when we don’t understand?

How do we trust when nothing seems to be changing?

How do we walk into the battles of life without being consumed by fear?

I don’t believe the answer is that we somehow muster up enough courage or become strong enough ourselves.

In fact, I believe it is exactly the opposite.

Jesus says in John 14:20:

“You are in me, and I am in you.”

I am in you.

Think about that.

The Christian life was never intended to be lived by our strength alone. Jesus doesn’t simply stand at a distance and tell us to try harder, believe harder, pray harder, or become more courageous.

He lives in us.

And perhaps one of the greatest things we can bring to the Father is simply our surrendered yes.

Those Marines reminded me of that.

They had been trained. They had been instructed. They had been prepared. And wherever they were eventually called to serve, they understood something fundamental: they operate under authority.

It isn’t simply about me, my, or I.

There is a mission greater than self.

And there is something about that picture that reminds me of our walk with Jesus.

Jesus said:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
Matthew 28:18

All authority.

And this same Jesus says, “I am in you.”

So when I come before the throne of grace with something that seems impossible, I don’t have to pretend I’m not afraid.

I don’t have to manufacture faith.

I don’t have to know how the story is going to end.

I simply come.

I bring the hurt.

I bring the fear.

I bring the person I love.

I bring the unanswered prayer.

I bring the thing that hasn’t changed.

I bring the thing I cannot fix.

And somewhere in that prayer, “my” begins to become “Thy.”

Not my will.

Thy will be done.

That isn’t giving up.

That’s surrendering to the One who has all authority.

Prayer and God’s Word become the weapons with which we stand when the battle is raging around us. Not because we are powerful enough, but because the One who lives within us is.

Maybe that’s what those yellow footprints can remind us of.

There comes a place where we simply have to stand.

Available.

Listening.

Trusting.

Ready.

We may not know where He is going to lead us. We may not understand what He is doing. We may not feel equipped for what stands in front of us.

But we can say:

Father, here I am.

I don’t know how.

I don’t understand why.

I cannot do this in my own strength.

But You have all authority.

Christ lives in me.

So today, I surrender my will to Yours.

I am available.

I am listening.

I am ready.

And because of You, I will not be afraid.

I will only believe.