Her lameness no longer filled her mind She had walked miles without its control He and she so lovingly entwined Willingly submitting to her new role Safely resting in the arms of Christ Desiring Him to stay the whole way Much-Afraid longed to not leave the tryst As He willfully prepared for the day "If I carry you up the mountain, You will not firmly develop hinds' feet In the end, you'll leap up the mountain And you must trust that I will not retreat I'm placing your hands inside my guides Sorrow and Suffering will lead the way You must stay real close, right by their sides They will protect you from being the prey." "I can't go with them. I can't. I can't. She trembled at their horrifying sight Sorrow and Suffering made her pant But eyes on the Shepherd made it alright Help me to trust as much as I love you I will go with whomever you choose I will not doubt whatever you do Shepherd, it's you that I cannot refuse
my inspiration
Upheld by the Shepherd’s hand and supported by his strength, she had really forgotten her lameness and had been unconscious of either tiredness or weakness. “Will you take me all the way? When I am with you I am strong and I am sure no one else but you can get me up to the High Places.”
He looked at her most kindly, but answered quietly, “Much-Afraid, I could do what you wish. I could carry you all the way up to the High Places myself, instead of leaving you to climb there. But if I did, you would never be able to go where I go. If you will climb to the heights this once with the companions I have chosen for you, even though it may seem a very long and in some places a very difficult journey, I promise you that you will develop hinds’ feet. That is why I have most carefully chosen for you two of the very best and strongest guides.
“They are good teachers; indeed, I have few better. As for their names, I will tell you them in your own language, and later you will learn what they are called in their own tongue. This, “said he, motioning toward the first of the silent figures, “is Sorrow. And the other is her twin sister, Suffering.”
“I can’t go with them,” she gasped. “I can’t. I can’t. O my Lord Shepherd, why do you do this to me? How can I travel in their company? It is more than I can bear, You tell me that the mountain way itself is so steep and difficult that I cannot climb it alone. Then why, oh why, must you make Sorrow and Suffering my companions? Couldn’t you have given Joy and Peace to go with me, to strengthen me and encourage me and help me on the difficult way? I never thought you would do this to me!” And she burst into tears.
“Joy and Peace. Are those the companions you would choose for yourself? You remember your promise, to accept the helpers that I would give, because you believed that I would choose the very best possible guides for you. Will you still trust me, Much-Afraid? Will you go with them, or do you wish to turn back to the Valley, and to all your Fearing relatives, to Craven Fear himself?”
Much-Afraid shuddered. The choice seemed terrible. Fear she knew only too well, but Sorrow and Suffering had always seemed to her the two most terrifying things which she could encounter. How could she go with them and abandon herself to their power and control?
She looked at him piteously, then said, “Do I wish to turn back? O Shepherd, too whom should I go? In all the world I have no one but you. Help me to follow you, even though it seems impossible. Help me to trust you as much as I long to love you.”
Hannah Hurnard, Hinds’ Feet on High Places, Chapter Four.
