Carried or Something Deeper?

Do you remember the poem "Footprints in the Sand"? The author writes about a dream she has in which the scenes of her life appear in the sky and in the sand below are corresponding footprints, often 2 sets: hers and the Lord. However, she is bothered by the fact that during the most difficult and trying times, there appears only one set of footprints. She questions the Lord about this because of His promise to walk with her always. His response was that during the darkest points of her life He was carrying her, and thus only one set of footprints. (This poem can easily be found online if you want to read it.)
     I've always liked this poem and it's message. It has been a comforting sentiment. But does He "carry" us in those dark times? Or is it something even deeper, more profound?
     I've been reading the book Stronger by Jim Daly. It is about the hard times, the trials, the tests we go through. When I read the passage I quote below, I pondered it for the next 24 hours. Could this be true? If so, why wasn't I taught this growing up? 

     "Author, counselor, and psychologist Larry Crabb describes it this way: [God] vanishes from our sight to do what He could not do if we could see Him. In the spiritual journey, I know of nothing so difficult to believe. But it's true.

Think of those three hours of darkness on the cross. Jesus screamed in agony, "God, where are you?" God said nothing. But it was during that exact time that God was in the Son reconciling the world to Himself.

Imagine the comfort we would experience and the hope we would feel if we realized that during His felt absence, Jesus is working to cut the chain from our ankles, to remove the weight that keeps us from flying." (emphasis mine)

     I was taught that God turned His back on Jesus while he hung there on the cross.  Jesus was taking on all the sin of the world (Isaiah 53) and as God is pure and holy, He would have turned away from Jesus in that time. 
     As I've stated before in my blogs, I'm not a theologian. But when I examine the scriptures it seems to me there is more to back up Larry Crabb's statement (as quoted in Stronger) than there is to back up what I was taught.
      Because I believe in Jesus He has come to dwell in me.  In scripture it states it just that way, Christ "in" me. Could it be that during our darkest times, when we cannot feel His presence, it is because He is so close to us, so IN us that we are unaware of Him? It is in those exact times He is working to cut away those things that bind us. What an incredible thought! 
    While the visual image of being carried by the Lord is pleasant, I don't think it captures what is really happening.
    I know that I have only scratched the surface here. I hope you ponder it and let me know where you land....


I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Gal 2:20


until next time...
and the greatest of these is love