Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi
Here's an entry from April 13,2005, when I was in a very discouraged spot:
I went to church hopeless, almost certain we'd missed God somewhere and were stuck in a huge mess.
IN the midst of worship -- from my will, rather than from my heart -- I suddenly thought of Hinds' Feet in High Places and the little scene in which Much-Afraid, sheltering in the cave on the last night of her journey and certain that all the Shepherd promised her was gone and empty, dumps her little bag of memorial stones, thinking they are not worth hauling around. Yet, as she looks at each one, she has to admit to herself that they are too precious to cast aside, even if it has all been a colossal waste. One by one, she picks the stones up, decides she cannot part with it and returns it to her bag - and picks up one more stone as a memorial. Of course, after her sacrifice, she is healed and restored and all the stones which she had almost discarded became jewels which the Shepherd set in her crown.
I realized the despair I felt was a close cousin to the despair Much-Afraid experienced -- and I remembered what happened after.
What looks like the end is not the end.
If you haven't read Hinds' Feet in High Places (by Hannah Hurnard) I highly recommend it...it's a fabulous allegory and has reminded me many times of the Shepherd's love and care and of the fact that I have to trust Him...and not be fooled by the way things appear.
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