Hind's feet on high places

Habakkuk 3:9 says, "The Lord God is my strength, and He will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me walk upon mine high places."  A hind, which is also referred to as a Red deer, are able to climb very high mountains and leap deep gorges & rocky precipices. They are able to pass through very hazardous & dangerous territory with ease because of the ability of their extremely agile feet. There is a book written by Hannah Hurnard titled, "Hind's Feet on High Places." It is a wonderfully written book, an allegory, about a little maimed hind named Much-Afraid. It depicts his struggle with fear and many other great struggles that he has to face in his life. Even though the book is filled with characters that challenge Much-Afraid, the real struggles of overcoming every challenge are within himself. He goes from being debilitated by fear and doubt, which holds him back in life to freedom by following the ways of the loving Shepherd. No matter how many times that I read this book, I find myself fighting back tears; it is always an emotional experience for me to read it. It seems like no matter where you are at in life, when you read this book, you are not only looking into its chapters, but into the chapters of your own life. God will just speak to you through this book. I remember years ago that my oldest daughter, Jordan, who was a young teenager then would always want me to read this book to her every night at bedtime. So, I would go into her room, and with her tucked into the bed, I would read it to her. We had many good nights at bedtime while reading this wonderful book. One day when she was about eighteen or nineteen years old, I was searching everywhere for my book, yet even though I had looked everywhere, it was still no where to be found. Jordan knew that I was searching for it, yet seemed uninterested in helping me find it or the very fact that it was lost. Finally, I found it hidden away in Jordan's bedroom. When she saw that I had found it she playfully wrestled me to get it back. She had purposefully hid my book, and she let me know that it was her book, now. Obviously, she must have thought that she had squatters' rights to it because she was insisting that the book now belonged to her! Well, she won that day, and I gave her the book... after all, if it meant that much to her, I most definitely wanted her to have it. If you have never read the book "Hinds' Feet on High Places," it is a must read!!!  It is evident that Hannah Hurnard was anointed to write this incredible piece of literature that is a definite tool in giving you insight into the pitfalls of your life. It helps you to link the significance of your struggles to your victories. If we have no struggles in life, we have no victories either. We need the difficult places of suffering and sorrow in order to become who God is intending for us to be. God promises to each of us that in everything we face in life if we surrender to Him and He is with us, there is nothing that we face that we cannot overcome. We do not have to be afraid of the struggles of life if God is for us. I am determined to go to the high places in my life with the help of Jesus Christ, and to be transformed into all that He desires me to be. If you do not own this book, go to the right of this post & scroll down to the Amazon box and order it today. You can get it from amazon.com either new or used. I purchased my new one (thanks to Jordan...which is a hard back copy this time.) through Amazon for not much at all. This is a great tool to use for family or private time; My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it together just a short time ago. If you have children of any age, it is a great book to read to them. I found that there is even a book, "Leader's discussion guide for Hinds' Feet on High Places," that is for small study groups, written by Christine Moon & Barbara Moon, which amazon sells new for less than $10. This sounds like a great tool to use in combination with this incredible classic Christian book. I am sure that I will be purchasing one for my library. You will not be disappointed or bored reading "Hinds' Feet on High Places;" it is actually very hard to put down. I believe that this book is without question my favorite book other than the Bible of course.