When the Lord looked down and saw that I might need a little female help to withstand three male siblings, He graciously sent me a sister. From the start, she has been a gift, not just to me but to all who meet her. I know you will be blessed to read this post, written by my baby sister and best friend, Susan Porter Smith.
Like a photo in my mind, I can still see the flames dancing against the black sky.
I stood with my nose pressed against the cold picture window. “Will my daddy be all right?” As the pastor’s family, we lived right across the street, so I had a front-row view of our church burning. Undoubtedly, my father was standing at a safe distance, watching while the firemen battled the flames, but my childish mind could not comprehend that. I was terrified. I cannot begin to describe the relief that washed over my tiny soul when I heard his footsteps.
My daddy was home, and although he brandished charcoal smudges and smelled of smoke, I’m sure I flew into His arms.
All was well in my world.
Until that time, my world had been small, safe, and secure. Not anymore. Now I understood that bad things happen — even in MY world.
As the youngest of five, I was very protected, but still, ugliness managed to creep in. He saw me as an easy target, and no matter how hard I tried to avoid him, the predator found me. Knowing I was a good Christian girl, he used the teachings of God’s precious Word against me. “You’re supposed to obey your elders,” he told me. Saved at the tender age of four, my newly-washed heart told me that something wasn’t quite right.
One day, God looked lovingly down upon me, heard my heart’s cry and gave me the courage to speak.
“Mommy,” I asked, “if someone older than you tells you to do something that you don’t think is right, do you have to do it?” My Holy-Spirit filled, godly mother saw right through that and questioned ME. The messy words and hot tears mingled and flowed like a volcano violently erupting.
Then, I heard my daddy’s footsteps. My mother quickly explained. I’d never seen my father so angry! And oddly, that comforted me. My predator was dealt with swiftly and justly.
Once again, all was well in my world.
As I grew, so did my confidence in my father’s ability to keep me safe, but as a pastor of a growing church, there were MANY who depended upon him. Unlike the Grinch, Daddy had a HUGE heart. Many times he would counsel late into the night. I would go to bed at my usual time but lay awake listening for his footsteps.
When I heard his soft footfall, I could finally sleep—my daddy was home.
I was safe.
There were many times my daddy rescued me over the years. I got used to that, but there were lots of times when he didn’t. Like when I complained about getting in trouble from a teacher for something I didn’t do. He’d respond, “Well, that just makes up for the times you did wrong and didn’t get caught!” And being the “pastor’s daughter” didn’t earn me any special privileges either. Once, during church, I was sitting in the back row of the balcony with two friends chatting up a storm. Right in the middle of my dad’s sermon he stopped, called us out, and made us stand up — right there in front of a congregation of nearly 1,000 people! I am sure my face matched the pink dress I was wearing! My friends weren’t sure if he was talking to us, but I knew! His steel-blue eyes were staring a hole right through me. I stood. Eventually, they joined me.
“I want you girls to go find your Sunday school teacher right after the service and ask her how you are supposed to behave in church.” Oh, I KNEW how I was supposed to behave in church! And, what was I even doing on that back row anyway?
That’s probably when the “You will sit no further back than the fourth row” rule got implemented. I was the instigator of many such rules in our home.
Not complaining. I deserved whatever I got and more, but here’s the thing — when I really needed my dad, he was always there with me!
Two years after I married, we got the news that my Dad had cancer, and there was nothing they could do.
He was 55 — way too young to die. His children came to be with him in his last days. Sleeping on my parent’s couch, I wrestled with God late into the night.
“Why must you take my dad? How can I live without him?” I leaned on him — perhaps too much, and perhaps that was the problem! God spoke to me that night — not audibly, of course, but as I lay there pleading for answers, I heard him say, “Susan, is your faith in your father’s God or in your father? When he is gone, will you still worship me?”
Turning to the Psalms for refuge, I ended up in chapter 61.
Some say that our view of God is shaped in part by our view of our father. I believe that, but I also believe that God had to take my father so that I would lean on Him. That night I exchanged my trust in my earthly father for trust in my Heavenly Father.
Now, I listen for God’s footsteps just as I used to listen for my dad’s.
The sound of His footsteps can be heard everywhere…if we will just listen.
When the Philistines came up against David (II Samuel 5), he asked the Lord what he should do. God said,
“…let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.”
What was the “sound of a going” in the mulberries that David was to listen for? The original Hebrew word means “marching.” I believe it was the footsteps of God and an army of angels!
The Philistines heard it too.
They quickly retreated only to run directly into extinction!
Just before Christ left this earth, He assured us,
“…and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”
And now, as we all face a time of turbulence and an enemy, we aren’t sure how to conquer. We can be at peace when we listen for God’s footsteps.
But we won’t hear them if we’re not walking with Him daily, or if we are filling our ears with other things like social media, gossip, and “fake news.” Perhaps that is why we are being forced to “be still.”
If we listen carefully, we can hear God’s footsteps in the tops of the mulberry bushes as He goes before us.
We can hear His footsteps in the churches who are holding online services as unprecedented millions are tuning in all over the world.
We can hear the Father’s footsteps in the Christian who drops groceries off on her unsaved neighbor’s porch.
We can hear God’s footsteps in the prayers of each frightened man, woman, and child who are turning to him!
Close your eyes and listen.
Do you hear them?
I do, and I know that all is well in my world!
Susan and her husband Phil Smith minister around the world, taking groups of laypeople to assist missionaries so they can continue spreading the gospel. To learn more about the Smiths and their ministry visit CLAIMforGOD.com
Wow and Amen, thank you so much for your ministry Melissa! And for Susan’s challenging message here! Just what I needed today ❤️🙏🏻
Praise the Lord, and thank you, Lillian. Praying for you, too, as you heal.
I remember this beautiful lady as one of my passengers that I drove to our Christian school every morning as I went to work.
She is still beautiful, Mary!
This was a great reminder that God needs to be first in our lives and that we can’t put all our trust in other people whether it be our parents, a teacher, a pastor, or anyone else in our life we look up to. God needs to be first or we will be disappointed. Thank you so much for this wonderful Post.
You are absolutely right, Aurora. He is the only One who will never disappoint us!
So precious! Love you ladies to pieces! Thank you for sharing your hearts! To God be the glory!
Very good! And I remember that day in church too lol.
I am laughing here as I read your reply, Holly! Oh, the good memories we have of our father’s and especially of how they pointed us to the Father.
Thank you Melissa and Susan. I can very much relate. I too feel God needed to take the father I almost worshipped so that I would put my trust in my Heavenly Father. Oh, how I miss my dad, but my Father is always with me and is taking care of my every need.
I seem to remember that particular church service…weren’t the other two girls Pam Hurley and one of the Reames girls??
I find it odd that at 57 I have outlived your dad. I call that grace. I sure do miss him. Yet oddly enough, I am glad that neither of our fathers are here to see the mess our world has become – even among what passes for “Christian.” I’m feeling that Heaven is a bit sweeter today for some reason.
“Even so come Lord Jesus” is our prayer.
Hi Mike, well yes (Susan says), one of the girls was most definitely Pam Hurley but she can’t remember who the others were. Ah…it’s been so many years! Yes, Heaven is sweeter–with my dad, your dad, and even sweet Pam. “Even so, come Lord Jesus.”