Hannah Hurnard’s book Hinds’ Feet on High Places is one of my all-time favorite books. Hannah Hurnard wrote a spiritual allegory about a woman named Much Afraid who accepts
an invitation from The Shepherd to take a difficult journey to the High Places. The Shepherd represents Jesus Christ. The High Places represents a destination of
spiritual growth and maturity, not heaven.
Much Afraid’s constant and faithful companions throughout her journey are
Sorrow and Suffering. Much Afraid has “fearing
relatives” who miserably taunt her all throughout her journey and tempt her to
give up and return to them. Since 2004,
I have read and re-read the story of Much Afraid on her journey to the High
Places, and it has inspired and encouraged me every time. I feel a kindred spirit with Hannah Hurnard
because she also believed in God’s ultimate salvation of all mankind.
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"At last the storm gradually died down, the clamor on the mountains ceased, and it was time to resume the journey. However, the weather had broken completely, and though the storm itself was over, thick mist and cloud remained, shrouding everything on the heights."
It seems to me that while
the storms of life initially arrive and rattle and
shake us to the core, the
hardest of times are experienced immediately after the intensity of the storm has passed. The storm comes and wreaks its havoc and shake us up for a short moment. But subsequently, we must face
the aftermath of the storm and pick up all the scattered pieces, usually while
we are still feeling shock and confusion.
Facing the aftermath and picking up the pieces takes much more time than
the storm took to create its effect.
"When they started, the mist was so thick that they could see only the trees on either side of the narrow path, and even they looked ghostly and unreal. The rest of the forest was simply swallowed up and entirely lost to sight, veiled in a cold and clammy white curtain. The ground was dreadfully muddy and slippery..."
"...now there was nothing...just a trudge, trudge forward, day after day, able to see nothing except for white clinging mist which hung about the mountains without a gleam of sunshine breaking through."
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Resentment calls out: "...you might just as well know now that this is going to continue for no one knows how long. Higher up the mountains the mist hangs thicker and thicker still. That's all you can expect for the rest of the journey."
Resentment says we shouldn’t hope for better days ahead or blessings in
the future. Resentment tells us we should question God's
sovereignty over our lives. Resentment
tempts our human soul to lose faith in God, give up hope for brighter days
ahead, and despair of life.
Bitterness calls out: "You might at least be willing to go back a little way and look, instead of insisting on going on and on along what may prove to be a wrong path leading you round in circles."
Bitterness tells us we've
been led and brought the wrong way in our life journey and that the only way to
make things right or better is to go back from where we came; to go back to our
past while ignoring the present which leads us to the future. Bitterness tempts us to believe that we can
be happy walking backwards instead of persevering steadfastly forwards through the mist.
Self-Pity calls out: "You poor little thing. It is too bad that you have been put in the charge of such obstinate mule-like creatures [speaking of Much Afraid having to endure being accompanied by Sorrow and Suffering]. Just think of the time you are wasting, getting nowhere at all. Trudge, trudge, day after day, nothing to show for it, and you ought to be getting up onto the High Places."
Self-Pity tells us that
enduring sorrow and suffering while also putting one foot in front of the other
is only time wasted in our lives.
Self-Pity lies to us and tells us we shouldn't have to go through
hardships and instead makes us focus on asking "Why me?". Self-Pity deceives us into believing we
deserve better than what we've gotten and that we are the only ones facing
restoration hardships after the storms have come and gone. Self-Pity wants us to feel sorry for
ourselves, neglect the needs of others, and forget that every moment of our
life has value and meaning for us and for others.
Listening to the voices of
Resentment, Bitterness, and Self-Pity causes us to repeatedly stumble along our life journey.
"Suffering doggedly led the way, and Sorrow just as doggedly was her rearguard, so that there was no possibility of turning back, but Much-Afraid found herself limping and slipping and stumbling far more often and badly than at any other stage of the journey. It made her very disagreeable and difficult to deal with...Altogether it was a miserable time, and the mist, instead of clearing, seemed to get thicker and colder and drearier than ever."
I have discovered that the
more I resist and fight against the seasons of hardship in my life, the more
miserable I feel and the more resentful and bitter I become. The more I resist and refuse to accept the
difficulties before me, the worse I feel emotionally,
mentally, and spiritually. As hard as this is to do, it
is when I finally come to accept and embrace what I must face and walk through that it becomes
easier to go through it, and I trip and stumble less. I am only able to accept and embrace
especially hard trials one moment at a time.
It is not something that I can just begin doing and do successfully
until the trial has ended. I have to constantly turn to God, cry out to Him, and let Him repeatedly remind me
of His truths and of His presence. I must
focus on my Father God and my Lord Jesus Christ if I am to have any ability to accept and embrace the circumstances and to
continue to stand firm and walk forward with hope, because my human fears keep coming
back and taunting me, just like Much Afraid's "fearing relatives" do
to her.
"At last, one afternoon, when the only word which at all described her progress is to say that she was slithering along the path, all muddy and wet and bedgraggled from constant slips she decided to sing...the mist was so thick and clammy that she was nearly stifled, and she felt she must do something to try to cheer herself and to drown the ghostly voices which kept whispering to her through the trees...'If I sing quite loudly,' she told herself, 'I shall not be able to hear what they [resentment, bitterness, and self-pity] say.'"
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God is still in control,
whatever hardship I am
currently experiencing will not be endless,
He hears my cries and
knows my pain, and
because He has heard,
He has sent to me this
song
to lift up my soul
and give me new strength to face the next moment
He hand picks the songs
for me and touches me and hugs me with them. Through just the right song, I hear Him speak to me, and I am encouraged.
Here are three of such songs in my life.
Maybe you’ll find them as encouraging as I have.
Sovereign by Chris Tomlin
The Sun is Rising by Britt Nicole
Stand by Britt Nicole
The storms of life will come and go and so will the
times of mist and uncertainty. I rest
assured that God does not come and go through the seasons of my life. He is always present and forever faithful,
even when our “fearing relatives” try to tell us otherwise.
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