Footprints

 "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor." Isaiah 61:1

I recently heard a woman share an experience that deeply resonated with my heart. She had been prayed over and anointed with oil. The oil was not just daubed lightly upon her but poured heavily all over her. Afterwards, she showered and then thoroughly dried herself. As she walked out into her home and onto the wooden floors, she noticed something. Everywhere she walked, she left footprints that could be plainly seen though her feet were completely free of water. So heavy had been the anointing oil upon her that it had remained and left the imprints of her feet wherever she walked. To be anointed by the Lord is to be set apart and empowered to be His presence and life wherever we go and wherever we are. The footprints we leave and the impressions and impact we make are to be His footprints and His impact. They should be seen. They should point to Him. I wonder. What do our footprints, yours and mine, say about us? Who do they point to?

A writer once asked his readers, "Has anyone ever said that they noticed a strong sense of His presence in you?" To be anointed by Him is a wonderful thing, but anointing is more about His power operating through us. We should all want that, but the impact of His anointing is magnified when we also walk in the fullness of His Presence and Life. We can become very proud of our anointing and the safeguard with that is to live and minister in the fullness of His Presence. Those who are are never aware of how strong His presence is in and through them. They're too focused on Him to be aware of themselves. 

Coming back to our footprints, just where do they take us? To whom do they lead us? Do we leave in them traces of the oil of His Holy Spirit? Are our footprints ever found in places that are well out of our comfort zones? I read this morning of a church that was planted in the meeting room of an office park business. The owner had allowed them to use it for their worship and prayer gatherings. Not long after starting, several homeless people who "lived" around the park started coming. It wasn't long before the owner's office administrator informed them that this couldn't be. She said that they thought "regular people" would be attending. I fear too many churches are only welcoming to those they consider "regular" people, not the "irregulars." Do our footprints find us leaving the impression of Christ among such people in such places?

May we, you and I, live and minister in such a way that we leave footprints soaked in the anointing and fullness of Jesus. May we willingly leave footprints in places no one else would choose to go.

Blessings,
Pastor O