Over a decade ago, as the Lord wooed me into a deeper relationship with Him, I read a book that gave bolstered my weak faith and spurred me forward. Hannah Hurnard’s Hinds Feet on High Places is an allegory of the Christian’s journey from one in employment of the Shepherd to one who lives in intimate relationship with Him. It isn’t about the journey to heaven, like Pilgrim’s Progress, but about the journey of our relationship with Jesus here in this life.
I really hadn’t thought of this book in years. Not until the possibility of a book contract began to look like a real thing. One day as I once again prayed “not my will but Yours be done,” it struck me that I had reached a true place of surrender—at least in my writing life. (Not there yet in other places!) Anyway, it occurred to me then that the Lord might be about to call me from a safe plateau to a new climb of faith. That’s when I thought of Hinds Feet on High Places.
Last week I pulled the book from my shelf. It isn’t a long book, but it is one that should be pondered. I read with both remembrance of the past and fresh eyes for the future. I saw how far the Lord has brought me up that mountain and how far I still have to go. Maybe it’s one of those things I need to read every 10 years or so as a benchmark, a measuring stick, a mark on the wall that tells me inches have been added.
I challenge you to read it for yourself, to evaluate your own journey—where you are now, where you began. And I pray Ms. Hurnard’s story will encourage you, as it did me, to continue the journey of faith the Shepherd has set beneath your feet.
聰明人之所以不會成功，是因為他們缺乏了堅忍的毅力。.......................................................