The Faith-Fueled Journey

All of us have gone on journeys to different places, but have you ever been on one where you don’t know the outcome or where you will end up? This is something that I have been going through in the past year. I have discovered that this particular journey has been more a journey of faith than any physical journey that any one of us can take. (Related post: Which is the better choice, the destination or the journey?)

I have recently been reading a book by Hannah Hurnard, titled, Hinds Feet on High Places. This story is an allegory which according to Oxford Languages is defined as “a story, poem or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one”. In this story, the main character, Much-Afraid, has a desire to travel to the High Places to be with the Good Shepherd. However, to do that, she must develop hinds feet, but because she has deformed legs and a disfigured face, she will need two companions to help her on the way. Over the course of the journey, she will need to learn to overcome her own fears as she goes through many dangers. Once she has overcome all the dangers and reaches the High Places, she is given a new name. She is now called Grace and Glory.

So, what does this story have to do with having a faith-fueled journey? I have found that it is my journey as well. I have found that I can be so much like Much-Afraid (not yet, Grace and Glory). I have found that sometimes in making that commitment to take a step in a different direction or to follow a different path, can be very hard especially if you don’t know where the path that you are on is leading you! I have come to understand that it must take a lot of faith to step out of my comfort zone and to trust that God has my best interest at heart. (Related post: Why are we sometimes so resistant to change?)

At the end of the book, there are 5 lessons that Grace and Glory learned during her journey. In the next few posts, we will explore each of these lessons in further detail.

1. She learned to accept all that has been done to her (in the past) and lay down her own will.
2. She learned that she must forgive the harm that others have done to her so that she could receive power to bring good out of the evil.
3. She saw that the Lord/Shepherd saw her not as she was but as she could be.
4. Everything that is deformed and ugly can be transformed into good with love (when we choose to lay down our own will).
5. She knew that when we accept, bear and obey the Lord, nothing can separate us from His love.

So, what did I learn from this? Everyone is on a journey in life. When we reach for God to help us get through that journey, then we can more easily find our joy in the life that we are living. We can get rid of our old selves and be made new. We have become transformed and are fueled by our faith in a God who is ever-loving and welcoming. God will always love us where we are, but He will always, always, always welcome our willingness to change and be made better.

What can you gain from this? There is always some degree of pain when we go through changes. Just think about the struggles that a baby goes through when they are learning to walk. They frequently fall down and may hurt themselves at times, but they continue to practice even when it is hard! That is what faith is all about. You don’t know what you could gain if you never try, in the first place.