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Hinds’ Feet on High Places Chapter 16 Grave on the Mountains Introduction
We come to the point in our journey in
which hope is key. Hope is the essence of that which you
haven’t yet seen come to pass, but still trust that it
will because of the One Who brings it about!
Much-Afraid must confront the fact that
the wonderful promises of the Shepherd have not yet been
fulfilled. She has not reached the High Places, her feet still
stumble at times, and her heart is still tangled with the very
natural desire for human love to be reciprocated.
Yet she has set her heart like flint to
“do that which He had told her, simply because He asked
it of her.” What a model of loving, obedient trust! Her
only strength lies in the unchangeable faithfulness of our
Lord. No matter how indiscernible the outcome may be,
she’s determined to follow where He leads. As the prophet
Hosea assures those who are pressing onward, “The ways of the
Lord are straight, and the righteous walk in them, but in them sinners stumble (14:9b).
Chapter 16
Grave on the Mountains
1. The path led forward...
The gaping gorge was indeed the place
which had been appointed for Much-Afraid. If ever she might
have doubted the Shepherd’s will, this impassible chasm
would have been it.
Picture yourself teetering at the edge of
a mist-filled abyss, so clouded that you can’t even make
out the other side, and so deep that all you hear is the voice
of mighty, swirling waters below. There’s no safety net
at the bottom, either!
Much-Afraid has grown greatly in her trust
of the Shepherd, though. She doesn’t have to understand
or even question His intended path for her and her companions.
It’s that pattern of ongoing obedience that has taught her
to wholly yield to His will. One step of faith has become
enough for her faith to see — and to obey.
Has our Shepherd ever led you to a
seemingly insurmountable chasm across which lies no secure
bridge of prior experience to which you can cling?
We’ve stood a number of times at the
very edge of the majestic Grand Canyon, peering into the
plunging rocky depths. A certain slightly queasy churning warns
me when I get too close to the brink — the next step is
thousand feet down! The Canyon is huge to the point of surreal,
like a canvas on which its Creator has exuberantly splashed
images of rock and horizon. The mighty Colorado River at the
bottom seems a rambling ribbon encompassed by towering walls.
Much-Afraid’s intent gaze reveals no
such detailed shape or color to give it perspective. No trails
beckon her to pick her way carefully down. All that she’s
aware of is dense mist hovering over a gravelike gorge.
• Describe the highest point from
which you’ve stood gazing downward. How did it feel to be
able to see so far down and so far across?
• What life experience could you
compare to Much-Afraid’s dead end in which she knows she
can’t turn back or skirt around?
2. Looking at her companions...; 3. Then
for the last time...
Don’t you feel proud of Much-Afraid
that it never even crossed her mind to turn back, even in the
face of such a terrible unknown? That willingness to totally
surrender herself in compliance with the Shepherd’s plan
shows just how far she — and hopefully we — have
come in our journey together to the High Places.
She doesn’t even grumble that the
designated path of obedience is downward, not up to the heights. What she does
encounter, however, is the calm confirmation of her companions
that she must jump. And, she’s not alone. Her companions
are eager to receive her extended hands so that they too might
complete their Shepherd’s assignment.
Such precious companionship is key to your
inner resolve when you face a situation as life-altering as
this one! Sue: Not long after Mike and I returned from our own
epiphany in Israel, we were both overtaken with dreams of a
mountain — at the same time! Mike’s dream found him
standing on Mount Horeb, the “mountain of
desolation” in the Older Testament. Our Lord told him,
“I brought you to this place to desolate you. I’ve
used the past few years to purge you of that which isn’t
like Me for My intended use for you. Now wake up your wife and
tell her.”
Mike gently shook me awake just as I was
ending a dream. I’d been standing on a mountain plateau
shaped like a half-moon that stretched out into
ever-brightening light. My back was to the dark, flat edge. I
knew without looking that the blackness behind me was studded
with jagged rocks and fell steeply downward.
The Spirit made clear that that darkness
was my past, and that destruction lay in my life if I tried to
recapture anything of that past. Then I heard in my spirit,
“You may look from side to side to see who is traveling
with you, but you must keep pressing on into the light.”
As Mike excitedly shared his dream, I
repeated mine. We both recognized that we were being prepared
for service in an arena we’d never before trod.
• Who are the key companions our Lord
has brought to come alongside you to encourage and exhort you
to press on to the High Places?
• If you feel as though you’re
all alone at the moment, are you willing to ask our Father to
give you His perspective on the people you already know? Perhaps
He’s placed a “companion in the rough” in
your life to foster a deeper relationship with Him. Don’t
discount neighbors, co-workers or even casual acquaintances
whom He might be preparing to be woven into your life tapestry!
4. The place into which they had thrown
themselves...
If you are to participate in the
sufferings of Jesus in order to share in His glory (see Romans
8:17), you’re going to be called to obedience in which
your dreams and plans are “bruised and shaken”.
Fear of potential pain and injury could have paralyzed
Much-Afraid into inaction. She could have refused to leave her
perch of relative safety.
But total yieldedness of heart demands
that we let go of any fears or even preferences that could
hinder our confidence that “underneath
are the everlasting arms” (Deuter-onomy
33:27).
Much-Afraid wasn’t so foolish as to
presuppose that she’d float down like a feather into the
gorge or glide gracefully like an eagle, thereby escaping pain.
No, her obedience was prompted by her trust in the faithfulness
of her Shepherd. If He said that she needed to jump into a
misty pit, then He had a purpose greater than her need to
understand beforehand.
As they felt their way along the canyon
floor, the three happened upon a large flat altar. This was
quite unlike the pebbly altars upon which Much-Afraid had
received her memorial stones of promise. Yet she had learned
the significance of altars and was already prepared in her heart to obey.
• Have you ever taken a “leap
of faith” into the unknown in obedience to the
Spirit’s prompting?
• How did you respond when you
discovered that your obedience yielded an outcome far different
from what you had anticipated? Was your determination to
continue to trust strengthened or weakened by your experience?
5. “This is the place”...; 6.
But for the first time on all that journey...; 7. She knelt
there quite alone...; 8. It seemed that in a way Bitterness had
been right...
Much-Afraid now encounters a unique
situation in her relationship with the Shepherd: silence in
response to her prayer. This is a defining point for her. Will
she panic? doubt? faint? Will her trust falter in this new
refining fire?
We’ve both had times during our
journey in which it seemed as though the heavens were indeed
brass. Our spirits felt utterly alone. You’ve probably
passed through a few seasons like this too!
But that’s precisely the time in
which we must draw on our trust that He never fails His Word.
Even if my eyes see no evidence of Him at work in my life, and
my ears hear no encouraging word that this too will pass, my
confidence must rest in HIS faithfulness and trustworthiness.
He has promised to never forsake me, and I must choose to
either lay claim to that reality or suffer the pain of doubting
Him.
Your imagination can be a fertile
playground for Satan to insinuate painful images. If
you’re not diligent to capture those thoughts,
you’ll wall off the very people who need your love —
usually the ones most capable of hurting you! You can see how
quickly doubt can explode into fear, and fear can escalate into
emotional isolation. Don’t let that happen!
If you allow doubt to nip at your trust,
other unbidden thoughts will fill in the void where hope should
be. Because Much-Afraid had already set her heart on trusting
the Shepherd, even the memory of Bitterness’s words of
woeful warning had no emotional impact. The words he’d snarled
had pretty well come to pass, but their verity had no power to bring her down. Only one thing mattered to Much-Afraid: “to do
the will of the one she followed and loved, no matter what it
involved or cost.”
And isn’t that what He’s
asking of you?
• What is the worst scenario you
could imagine might happen to you? Can you walk in
Much-Afraid’s steps of trust that nothing else matters
than doing the will of the One you love and follow?
• What period stands out in your life
journey when you cried out to Jesus but sensed no response? How
did you react when that happened?
9. The grave up on the mountains...
What gentle peace invades your heart when
you have abandoned yourself to the utter sovereignty of the
Shepherd! All striving ceases, all the past flagellation of
self-pity and resentment and pride are extinguished.
This is the path of acceptance walked by
so many of our persecuted brothers and sisters worldwide. They
know deeply the companionship spoken of by the exiled apostle
John, a “fellow-sharer in the suffering and the kingship and the perseverance that come from being united with Jesus” (Revelation 1:9).
Heaven’s perceived silence leads us
to an interesting point. How does the nature of your prayers
change as you grow in understanding of His faithfulness, even
when you know that “no Angel will call from heaven to say
that [your] sacrifice need not be made”?
Jesus exhorted His disciples to keep on
praying, as did the apostle Paul with the Thessalonian
believers. In light of His
faithfulness, your desperation
factor can diminish or even disintegrate completely.
Mike: Sue and I have experienced our
Father’s response to our cry immediately at times, and
later at others. Many petitions and requests are still pending!
But the One Who is well able to answer is also worthy to decide when and how He will respond. That’s His prerogative as
Lord!
As you’ve probably noticed in
David’s psalms in particular, our communication with our
God can encompass a full range of emotions. He created us to
experience these and knows our weaknesses and frailties. He
won’t turn you away from bringing before Him that which
He already knows is going on in your heart. Just remember that
the other frail human beings He’s set in your midst
aren’t as understanding as He is. They can’t read
your mind to determine if they’re at fault, or if you are just going through a
tough time yourself. Exercise the self-control the Spirit offers so others don’t
have to be apprehensive around you!
Sue: Some of my deepest disappointments
have come when I’ve prayed answers instead of requests and petitions! In other
words, I’ve been so specific in what I thought God needed
to do that I boxed out His creativity and blinded myself to the
unique way in which He was intervening!
The testimony of a dear brother can help
clarify the difference between praying for needs rather than
specifying answers. “I was anxious and worried because my
car had broken down and I had no way to get to work. So I asked
Mike and Sue to pray with me for another car. To my dismay,
they refused! But then they explained that my real need was for transportation, so that’s what they prayed for with me.
“The next day I happened to mention
my need to a co-worker, and his face lit up! He lived one exit
up from my apartment complex and said he’d be glad to
pick me up and drop me off. Those times during our daily
45-minute commute were incredible! I led him to Jesus, and we
spent the drive time praying and singing and learning from the
Bible on tape.
“I started to feel a little guilty
about inconveniencing him, but then his wife called me. She
told me how delighted she and the kids were with the changes
she was seeing in her husband. SHE didn’t want the
fellowship to stop! So our Lord answered the need in such a way
that my earlier prayer about getting another car seems so
shortsighted now.”
Praying a need isn’t a fatalistic
“whatever will be, will be” approach. Even the
blind man who trustingly approached Jesus expressed his need: “I want
to see!” He didn’t presume to tell Jesus how to do
it. He just trusted that however the Master chose to meet the
need would be sufficient.
Our Shepherd’s provision surpasses
all that we could think or ask. We just need the spiritual eyes
to see the matter from His perspective and to wait on Him to
reveal His response.
• Are you one who prays specific
answers rather than offering our Father your need?
• Are you willing to offer up your
“prayers, and petitions with thanksgiving”
(Philippians 4:6) with a confident peace that you are being
heard? Do you have a hopeful expectation that His timing and
intervention will far exceed your heart’s desire because
it is suiting His purposes?
10. She felt nothing but a great
stillness...; 11. After she had waited for a little...
Form in your mind’s eye an image of
“the flame of concentrated desire to do his will.”
Mike: One morning in prayer our Lord gave me a picture of a
funnel to illustrate progress into the center of His
will. Alongside the sides of the funnel are our human desires
and the obstacles and strongholds, like cliff ledges, on which
we choose to camp out rather than press on in Him.
But if you yearn with all your heart to
follow Jesus and to serve His purposes, you find yourself
moving into the funnel stem. There in the stem, your desires
and ambitions are swallowed up by His wonderful agape love.
That was the place of stillness for Much-Afraid, desiring only
to “do that which he had told her.”
The natural love and human desires that
Much-Afraid tried so desperately to root out from her very
being are all that many of us have ever known. We enter this
world screaming for nourishment and the touch that expresses
love — and that’s not wrong! Babies who don’t receive
cuddling and response to their cries fail to thrive, even to
the point of death.
But the human hunger for love can
overwhelm all our other motivations. We can become obsessed
with requiring others to love us the way we want them to. That can
call for all sorts of hoops for individuals to have to jump
through in order for their love to be received as love. And
such a narrow framework for love in a relationship can be
crippling.
A dear older woman complained to us that
she never felt loved by her children or grandchildren. We
happened to know that these various relatives were actually
very attentive and demonstrative in their affection. But this
woman had very precise demands of them, and if they
didn’t fulfill these requirements, nothing they did was
seen as loving from her perspective. That can be pretty
frustrating for everyone!
Much-Afraid recognized that the roots of
human love and desire in her were hindering intimacy with her
Shepherd. But no matter how hard she tried in her own meager
strength to dislodge them, her efforts were futile.
Does that mean that followers of Jesus
can’t relish the loving joy we share with our spouse,
children, friends? Of course not! Jesus emphasized repeatedly
the need for His disciples to love one another in very real,
sacrificial ways.
But if your natural love is more important
to you than your love for Him, then that natural love needs to
be reexamined and diminished. Your relational priorities have
become skewed. The objects of your natural love have become
idols, and our Lord is jealous to be first in His
people’s lives. That’s why Jesus spoke words that
confound those who aren’t united in Him: “If anyone comes
to me and does not hate his father, his
mother, his wife, his children, his brothers ansd sisters, yes,
and his own life bsides, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14: 26). This means that our love
for Him must be so great that in comparison, the rightful love
we have for others would seem like hatred.
Do you remember the testing undergone by
the patriarch Abraham, the first “called-out one”?
If he was to be the father of all who trust and obey their Lord
fully, then anything that might interfere had to be removed.
Abraham’s long-awaited and much beloved son Isaac could
have become an idol to the old man and his elderly wife.
Therefore, the patriarch’s obedient trust was put on the
line. Was he willing to sacrifice this son of the promise God
had made to him?
You can almost hear the thoughts scurrying
through his mind. Yet Abraham trusted this God Who had
miraculously given him this now-teenager. Surely, he reasoned,
He can bring him back to life even from death’s dark
door.
That’s trust! But it didn’t
come all of a sudden. Abraham had to be resolute in his
relationship with God long before he and the lad made their
fateful climb up Mount Moriah’s rocky sides. If not, his
natural love would have dissuaded him, and reason would have
found him balking.
Abraham, the first Hebrew, stood firm in
His relationship of love-grounded obedient trust. This is the
same powerful relationship in Jesus that our Father is
restoring — the Hebraic foundation of our lifelong pilgrimage with
our Shepherd. The roots which Jesus expanded into fully a heart
issue emanated from this walk of Abraham with his Lord.
It’s the same test of obedient
devotion confronting Much-Afraid, and the same test that faces
each of us who yearn to walk in our Master’s steps. The agape,
self-sacrificing love that our Lord demands makes natural love
pale in comparison.
• Are you in a place in your journey
in which you can truly affirm that Jesus is first in your heart and
life?
• How would you explain that sort of
love to someone who has yet to walk in union with Jesus?
12. For the first time she felt...; 13. At
that the indistinct figure behind the altar...
True fellowship in the Body of Jesus is
when one Christ-follower helps another Christ-follower to walk
more fully in the Master. It’s always a fine line between
helping someone out and presumptuously stepping in to relieve
suffering that’s been orchestrated by our Father for
their good.
If the Holy Spirit has anointed you with a
gift of mercy, it’s especially important that you await
His impulse before you charge ahead to allay pain or
discomfort. You may find yourself forging ahead and interfering
in a situation in which you don’t have our Father’s
perfect perspective. You might be wanting to bring comfort when
our Father is expanding His child’s patient endurance, or
even bringing him or her to repentance!
Nature abounds with examples of intense
struggle needed for life to thrive. If you misguidedly peel the
shell off a squirming exhausted chick, you will have stunted
the muscle growth that its struggle would have strengthened. If
you seemingly come to the aid of a writhing butterfly as it
wiggles out of its cocoon, you will have doomed it. That
struggle is necessary for its wings to fully develop.
Sorrow and Suffering wisely deferred from
stepping in to tear out natural love from their
companion’s heart. They realized that her heartrending
plea was outside the scope of their call from the Shepherd.
Much-Afraid’s spiritual growth would be stunted by
anything other than doing their part, and only their part, of
the Master’s plan.
The Shepherd’s intent was for
Much-Afraid to understand that He
alone could excise her natural
desires in order for His seed of agape love to bloom. “I
call to God, the Most High, to God who is accomplishing his purpose for me” (Psalm 57:2)
All throughout Scripture we find people
crying out for help. Time and again Israel finds herself in
desperate straits, calling to a God they know about. But they fail
to be the people that belong to Him heart, soul, mind and strength.
When their need has been satisfied, they turn away from Him
shamelessly.
The God of the Bible wants a relationship
with His people that far transcends “grandfather in
the sky” overflowing with goodies. How vital that we
today heed the warning proclaimed to ancient Israel: “Am I supposed to redeem them when they
have spoken lies against Me? They have not cried out to Me from their hearts,
even though they wail on their beds. They assemble themselves
for grain and wine, yet turn away
from Me” (Hosea 7:13b,14).
Our Father used trials and challenges as
opportunities for seekers to find Him and for the faithful to
grow deeper in Him. But all too often, shortsighted believers
rush in to put a bandaid over a devastating spiritual cancer.
Be sure that your help is motivated in response to the
Spirit’s command, and not just your own natural response
to alleviate suffering.
• When has someone hampered your
spiritual growth by trying to relieve a pain or trial that our
Father intended to be good for you? When did you realize that
your “helper” had made a mistake?
• How has the Spirit helped you
discern between a door of service that He has opened and one
that He has purposely closed to you?
14. Much-Afraid turned toward him...; 15.
He came and stood beside her...; 16. There was complete
silence...
Note that there is only one priest at this
crisis point in Much-Afraid’s life. He’s not
surrounded by under-priests to do His bidding or to assist.
This priest alone is sufficient, a quiet presence of whom she
has no fear.
How well Much-Afraid knows herself as she
pleads with this priest to bind her to the altar! And how deep
is her love for the Shepherd that she so wants to ensure that
she not “be found struggling while the will of [her] Lord
is done.”
Rather than bring down the
Shepherd’s reputation, Much-Afraid preferred to limit her
own freedom so that He could accomplish His will in her. She
much preferred to take on His identity rather than cling to
even a vestige of her former self. Her cry mirrors the plea of
King David: “From the end of
the earth, with fainting heart, I call to you. Set me down on a
rock far above where I am now” (Psalm 61:2).
The complete silence that followed her
request perhaps is a picture of the wonder of the angels
“who long to look into these things.” None in the
heavenlies, neither angel nor demon, has the kind of
relationship in our frailty and weakness that followers of
Jesus have with their Father.
Being bound “hand and foot” is
significant for you as well as for Much-Afraid. Hands often
represent what you do, your actions. Feet refer to your ability to go where you need
to. By this binding, Much-Afraid is affirming herself as the
Shepherd’s beloved bondslave as so often referred to by Paul. For that is
truly what Lordship entails: He alone is the Master, and we, in
walking with His Spirit, are His slaves as well as His co-heirs
and family. He has the right to tell us, as His own, what to
do, where to go, and what to say.
He has set you aside to be in union with
Him for His purposes. He continues to refine you to more
readily and eagerly responsive to that purpose!
• Do you
have crisis points or serious issues at hand in which you find
yourself struggling, complaining, or walking in less than the
trust that would bring Him praise?
• How has following Jesus
“bound” your hands (what you choose to do) and feet
(where you choose to go)? How has your life changed as
you’ve yielded these prerogatives to your Shepherd?
17. When he had finished...; 18. Still
there was silence...
Sue: I can’t help but marvel at the
hope of those who have preceded us in Jesus under exceedingly
difficult circumstances. From the heroes of the faith recounted
in Hebrews chapter 11 to present-day martyrs clinging to Jesus
through unimaginable torture, their hope has sustained
them.
Our lives here in America generally
aren’t greatly impacted by the “hopes” we
express: “I hope it doesn’t rain.” “I
hope my son calls today.” Yet it’s an unshakable
hope in her Shepherd’s faithfulness that urges
Much-Afraid to lay down her life. This isn’t mere wish or
maybe! She’s betting her all that being in Him is of far
greater worth than even the pleasure of human love.
She knows she’s come to die to
herself, to be buried to her old fears and insecurities, and to
offer up the as yet unfulfilled promises which have carried her
thus far. She’s come to that wonderful place of finding
her rest only in Him: “My
soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. He
alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will
never be shaken” (Psalm
62:1,2).
Our Shepherd is calling you, too, to a
two-fold mission: to die to all your deeply entrenched desires
and plans, and to cling to the hope of that which He promises
to fulfill in you in His timing, even unto death.
Some people have pretty well let go of
their own ambitions and desires, but they haven’t
committed to holding onto only His promises! It’s a
two-fold process — one hand lets go of the old so that
the other can take hold of His and press on.
Our Father never intends for you to be
drifting along purposelessly until eternity’s gate opens
for you. One of the most basic of the seven needs He’s
instilled in you is the need for purpose and meaning in Him.
He’s not short on revealing it to you if your heart is
free from the entangling alliances of natural wants and dreams.
• What particular promises of God
have you latched onto with hope as unshakable as
Much-Afraid’s?
• Can you agree with Job that no
matter where your journey takes you, “Though He slay me, yet will I hope in
Him” (13:15)? What particular
desires and plans have you willingly placed on His altar so
that He can
direct your path?
19. The priest put forth a hand of
steel...; 20. He held it for a moment...
“The time had come.” Perfect timing describes
our Father’s intervention exactly. He knows the beginning
and the end of a matter, and everything in between. So why
should you fret along the way if you fully trust His
sovereignty and right to decide?
Timing is part of the character of our
Father. Study the beautiful harmony of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 and
notice how the “time” element intertwines every
aspect of life.
His timing is key. You can jump in with
the noblest heart to attempt great things for God, but if the
timing isn’t His, then the fruit won’t be either.
How many zealous young missionaries have painfully returned
from the field because the timing was not of God? Perhaps their
hearts were not yet free of demonic strongholds, or they
weren’t yet wise with the maturity of life’s
lessons, or their families weren’t emotionally or
spiritually ready.
Mike: The Spirit has gifted me with a
prophetic anointing to share God’s truths to His people
at large as well as to individuals as He directs. But
I’ve learned (painfully) over the years that the moment
He breathes a message to me isn’t necessarily the time He
releases me to share it. Sometimes I’ve sat on a message
for years until the Spirit has said it was time!
• Recount an instance in which you
spiritually jumped the gun and discovered that what you thought
God wanted you to do was ill-timed, not well-received, and
fruitless.
• Why was it so important for
Much-Afraid that “not a rootlet was torn or
missing” from her natural love and desires? What happens
when natural gets in the way of agape love?
21. When he had said this...; 22. Then,
utterly exhausted, she fell asleep.
Completely at peace and totally spent,
Much-Afraid falls into a deep sleep. This stage of her journey
has been the culmination of her preparation in her quest for
the High Places with the Shepherd. She has yielded every dream,
every degree of self-ownership, to the altar of love-grounded
obedient trust in the Shepherd. All vestiges of her companions,
Sorrow and Suffering, have disappeared.
Oh what freedom of spirit comes when
worries and fears are consumed on His altar! Sue: For our first
few weeks in Israel, I was plagued by unwarranted fear of being
killed (and this was long before the tragic suicide bombings
that have so devastated the people of that land). Those
thoughts were so vivid that I actually had dreams of specific
ways in which I’d be killed!
But then the Spirit’s reminder broke
through my agitation: “Is your Father still sovereign?
Can a sparrow fall without Him knowing?”
As I purposely chose to focus on my
Father’s Lordship and my “childship”
relationship with Him, I realized how those fears had shifted
my focus away from Him and onto myself. I had forgotten in Whose
hand my very life depended: “For You have been my help; in the shadow of Your wings I
rejoice; my heart clings to You; Your right hand supports me” (Psalm
63:7,8).
My Father’s right hand of power and authority supports me! With conscious decision to rely on the Spirit
within me, I burned up those thoughts on His altar in my mind,
the very place where they had so tormented me. At that point,
it didn’t matter if my life or my death better suited His
purposes. He was, and remains, my King and my Lord.
When your heart is filled with desire to
bring Him praise, there’s no room for debilitating sorrow
and self-condemning suffering.
• Did you wince when you read about
the priest’s “hand of steel” ripping and
rending all of Much-Afraid’s natural love and dreams?
What went through your mind?
• What is hindering you from letting
Him consume all that’s hampering you from walking in His
steps?
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