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. When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that there was only one set of footprints. Sometimes, there were marks in the sand that looked as though he had fallen to the ground and crawled on his knees.
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 there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why you would leave me."
The LORD replied: "My son, my precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. But you need to recall that I am only a dream of yours. When you walked through your life, you thought I was beside you giving you strength, but it was only your efforts that got you through. When your burden became heavy, you fell to your knees, begging for my help - but you came through with your own actions anyway. "
The man stopped to think about this.
The LORD then said, "For all your life, you have thought of me. You have wanted me to be with you every step of the way - but you see that you are truly alone. Now that you know the truth, wake up and face your life as it truly is. Walk from here, knowing that you can face your life without my help. And when you come to the end of this beach, may you look back on your footsteps and see that you walked that path as well as you could."