(I wrote this blog about 6 years ago but never shared it. Though still in the process of developing hinds' feet; I have just recently been able to recognize in my own life that God does not "waste" one minute of time spent alone with Him but instead uses it for His good. In His time. Be encouraged.)
I’ve been thinking about life a lot lately.
Sometimes, when looking at other’s lives, it can appear that things have simply come together by some sort of magic. This is especially true when we meet or hear of a person who is skilled in an area that is a perfect fit. Elite athletes make their given sport look easy. Billy Graham embodies every quality of a genuine evangelist. Beethoven and Mozart are synonymous with the word “prodigy” when thinking of music.
However, we have not been given the privilege of sharing in the slow, painful, unseen process of training that is accomplished in the secret places years before the world knew their names.
Recently, I became a Certified Personal Trainer. I studied for hours to learn what I knew would be expected of me if I hoped to pass the final test. However, learning terminology and body parts did not equip me with the know-how to personal train. God brought to memory this week the many years (13 to be exact) that I “personal trained” by myself in the basement of my home. Each week I would discipline my body as I learned proper form and technique, all the while practicing in front of an old dresser mirror I leaned against the wall. I would read and study, then go to the basement to put into practice what I was learning. As the weeks turned into months, I began to see the personal benefits of weight-lifting and my routine became a part of my life.
I had no idea that one day what I had spent years learning in the secret place would become something I would share with others in a public arena. Without realizing it, I am able to “pull” from the private lessons that happened in the secret place and put those lessons into practice.
In my favorite book, Hinds’ Feet on High Places, an allegory of a fearful, crippled girl named Much-Afraid whom the Good Shepherd (Jesus) promises to take to the high places, I have been able to see that spiritually speaking, something similar is happening in my inner world .
For several years I have been passionate for prayer, desiring more intimacy with the Good Shepherd. I have wrestled with the investment of time given over to hours of alone time with Him, with nothing tangible to show as proof that my time has not been spent in vain. This has challenged every fiber of my being as I was raised to work hard and give of my time to those things that reap a worthy harvest.
As Jesus continues to take me deeper into a relationship with Him, I am realizing that He is indeed taking me to the high places. Yet at times the journey is painful and unpleasant. I cannot develop my own hinds’ feet-- only He can develop the hinds’ feet needed to climb what appear to be impassable precipices. Although unbearable at times, the only way to develop hinds’ feet is to go by the paths which the hinds use. I am learning that just as my basement was the secret place for my personal training, my alone time with the Good Shepherd is where the secret development of my hinds’ feet is in full process—a process that demands there be no onlookers.
Perhaps you, too, are in the secret process of developing hinds’ feet as you are dangling from a precipice that you fear might claim your very life. As Much-Afraid was staring up at the impassable precipice she was being asked to climb, the Good Shepherd said, “Why, I don’t know anything more exhilarating and delightful than turning weakness into strength, and fear into faith, and that which has been marred into perfection.”
I may remain in this secret place for some time as the Good Shepherd continues to transform me from my present marred state into perfection.
There is no other path to the high places.
Perhaps one day what is being done in the secret place will be revealed in a way that would not be possible had I not been willing to climb the steep precipice in the developmental stage of my hinds’ feet.
Stay the Course…
Sheila
