i just finished reading "hinds' feet on high places". it's a beautiful story of the journey of Much-Afraid, a girl who wishes to follow the Great Shepherd to the high places but can't because of her crippled feet, ugly countenance, and much-afraid little heart. she speaks to the Shepherd and he promises to make her crippled feet like hinds' feet if she will follow his will instead of her own. i had to google this, but a hind is a female red deer (the male is known as a hart, also mentioned in the book). these deer live all over the world, but are known for their ability to leap with ease among the rocks and mountains. their feet are made for leaping! if you've ever slammed on your brakes as a deer bounded quickly in front of your car, you know that they can be there one minute and gone the next. they are fast, they are agile, and obstacles do not seem to hinder them in any way.
what a beautiful picture of what God wants for me. he desires for me to be able to leap!! he wants to have me with him on the high places. but i can't get there with fear in my heart, with an ungodly face, and with feet that haven't been made over. the hart and hind are born with feet made for leaping. mine have to develop over time. Much-Afraid gets her hinds' feet only after a long journey with Suffering and Sorrow as her companions. she follows the Shepherd up, down, over, and through many difficult paths, forests, seas, and deserts, and Suffering and Sorrow help her on her way. it's not an easy journey. she runs into her awful relatives along the way (Pride, Bitterness, Self-Pity, etc...you get the idea) and they try to persuade her to come back home. Each time she is assaulted by these trials, she calls out to the Shepherd, and he comes immediately to rescue her. if only i used this same faith every day!!
i am trying to follow my Shepherd. but my "relatives" try to prevent me from staying on the difficult path. they call loudly to me, they trip me up, they make sin seem easier than God's way. but i long to be as trusting as little Much-Afraid. to put my hands in the hands of Sorrow and Suffering and to let them guide me up the mountains in my life. to call out to Jesus when i am unsure, afraid, and tempted. to believe that no matter what i go through down here, there are higher places ahead (not just in heaven, but in this life!!). to trust that every hard day, every trial, every struggle is something that God allows in my life or places in my life to help make my crippled feet like hinds' feet, so that i am equipped to get to the high places.
in the end, Much-Afraid reaches the high places, but only after sacrificing her will, her very self, on the alter of God. only after allowing the Great Shepherd to remove the roots of her human, selfish, much-afraid heart and put in it's place his love. i am drawn to pictures and songs, things that give me a tangible way to capture a thought in my mind. this picture of salvation, of what God can do in my life when I let him, is one of my favorites. i will strive, like little Much-Afraid, to sacrifice my will daily, to remember the lessons he teaches me while i am on the road, and to allow him to continue making my feet like hinds' feet, my face more beautiful, and my heart more like his. Much-Afraid gets a new name when she reaches the high places, for she is no longer much-afraid; i can't wait to hear mine.
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