When I needed you most

Few months back, I was hospitalized for many days. In the last days of my illness, I had lost hope of recovering. In that difficult time, this short story helped me to sail through.

A pious man had deep faith in God. Unfortunately, he was going through a rough phase. He had to fight on all fronts of life. Every morning, he would pray to God, and then do all his duties sincerely. Days passed by, but the struggle was not ending. Ultimately, he got sick and tired and started losing faith. That night, he met God—in his dream!

He found himself standing on a beautiful beach. It was early morning and the sun was rising over the sea. Its rays were sparkling the sand like silver. He saw some footprints in the sand coming from far towards him. Suddenly, he saw a flash of light. God was standing in front of him! God said, "My son, it's your lifeline. The footprints that you see are ours!"

"Oh yeah, there are two sets of footprints. That means you were walking with me all the way!" exclaimed the man joyfully. But he also noticed something else. There was only one set of footprints at some places. "What is that?" he asked. "It's the difficult time in your life," told God.

"That means you abandoned me when I needed you most!" said the man sadly. "No my dear, they are my footprints" said God with a soothing smile. "When you were in trouble, I lifted you in my hands!"