Beginning the Journey

Hinds' Feet on High Places is a story about a little lame and disfigured girl named Much-Afraid who decides to take a journey to the high places.  Her greatest desire is to escape her fearing relatives who are attempting to marry her to Craven Fear.   Her journey is full of challenges and growth, but the Shepherd is determined to give her the desire of her heart - no matter what it takes.  

The first time I read the book I had recently moved to Houston, TX, where I knew absolutely no one.  I was lonely.  I had just had a new baby, after having two miscarriages within the previous two years.  I had been in a major car accident, my husband had been overseas for 6 months, and my mother and father had separated and divorced.  I cried all the way through the book, not because it made me sad, but because I began to see hope for all the suffering and sorrow that I was experiencing.  They were tears of tenderness as I began to see that Christ might actually be kind and tender, a gentle shepherd, a healer with a purpose for my circumstances that exceeded my present perception. 

I liked the way the Shepherd was presented.  He was winsome, funny, sweet, and kind. He would actually look at Much-Afraid and see her – not with condescension or disgust - but with eyes of love, hope, and delight.  The book began to open my eyes to the possibility that I might have not been seeing Christ appropriately. 

I also identified with Much-Afraid.  If there had ever been a middle name for me, it would have been Fear and Trembling.  And during those two+ years in Houston and Ft. Hood, TX, I saw the wounds splayed and exposed, and I perceived that I needed to allow God to heal my wounded heart. 

I am diving back into that book now with great joy; it is like an old friend with whom I have suffered and grown because of “her” presence in my life.  I encourage you to travel with us.  Our little group has begun looking at the book, discussing it, and contemplating what the Lord might want to teach us about ourselves in our current season of life.  I will post questions that you can contemplate and answer.  You are welcome to make comments as you work through the book with us.  The questions are the kind that demand transparency.  I urge you to be as forthcoming as you dare. 

Last night our small group began a discussion of the first 3 chapters of the book.  Some of the questions we asked were: 

*  From what Valley of Humiliation would you like most to be delivered?

*  In what ways are your legs lame and your mouth twisted, and from what would you want the Shepherd to heal you?

*  Is the love within your heart the love that demands to be loved in return, or is it the kind of love that is self-sacrificial - the God-kind of love?

*  In this book, the Shepherd is painted with winsome and gentle attributes.  He is tender, kind, understanding, fiercely loving, encouraging without being pushy - except when needed and someone worth knowing.  Is your view of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, bent this way, or do you see a strict, cruel, and/or judgmental God?

*  All of us get invaded from time to time by a swarm of thoughts that keep us from moving on fearlessly with God.  What are the biggest threats to your forward movement?  Is it Cowardice, Fear of Acceptance, Fear of Failure, Self-Condemnation, Self-Doubt or some other noisy intruder?

*  Much-Afraid received the promise of a new name.  What name did you begin with, and what would you like your new name to be?

As we discussed the book together and answered these and other questions, one thing that remained consistent for us all was that we all had fears that threatened to undo us.  Our fight to believe that we are perfectly loved, forgiven, accepted, and declared righteous remains an ongoing battle for us all.  The same enemies that trapped Much-Afraid tend to trap us.  The same longings are in our own hearts; we want freedom from our fears, and we don’t want to be married to any of them.    

We looked at I John.  I John 3:16-19 says, "And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us, God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.  By this, love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears in not perfected in love.  We love because He first loved us." 

Perfect love casts out fear.  Not our perfect love for God or others, but God’s perfect love for us.  We must fight to believe it is true – no matter what we feel, or what circumstances are telling us, or how much we are being driven to think we are beyond His love and care. 

And that is ultimately the journey to the High Places.  Fear is removed as we discover His love over and over again.  We find Him to be faithful to love us always – maybe He does not seem faithful in the way we want – but He is definitely faithful in the way HE wants.   And at some point, He becomes worth the journey.  It becomes about knowing Him, enjoying Him, delighting in Him, serving Him, and loving others for HIS sake, not in order to be loved in return.