The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. ~ Habakkuk 3:19, King James Version (KJV)

I grew up hearing scripture from the King James Version, so my first introduction to (or remembrance of) this verse is with the description  “hinds feet”.  Other newer translations use “deer’s feet”, which loses some of the richness and preciseness of the message, especially for us “girls”.

A hind is a female deer that can place her back feet exactly where her front feet stepped. Not one inch off!  In times of danger, she is able to run securely and not get “off track”.  She is able to scale unusually high and difficult terrain to elude predators. She is able to run with abandonment and not fear.

The New King James Version (NKJV) of Habakkuk 3:19 reads this way:

The Lord God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer’s feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills.

High hills / high places are mentioned 117 times in the Bible, which means it is very important that we understand and obey.  It refers to centers where the Canaanites worshiped pagan gods and practices.  God commanded the Jews to tear them down, but instead they became idols that over time seduced God’s people away from Him.

God still commands His people (us) to tear down our “high places” which are not as obvious as those places of idol worship. Most believers are seduced by high places of our own making; anything or anyone that possesses more of our heart and mind than what we surrender to God.  Our society offers many idols that are seductive on the subconscious level, and we can get sucked into them (beliefs, attitudes, habits) without realizing it until they already have a hold on  us. You might be pretty shocked at what some of those idols in your life are, such as old hurts and untrue beliefs about yourself. For more understanding on this, I encourage you to take our class, Treasures Out of Trauma at your next opportunity.

The good news is that God has given you what you need to defeat those high places in your life, and free you to embrace life in the fullest, to live in freedom from your pain of the past, personal insecurity in the present, and fear of the future.

Look at our scripture again, remembering what I said about hinds’ feet.

The Lord God is my strength;
He will make my feet like hind’s feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills. 

I have also given deep thought to “why hinds’ feet?”  What is so important about the back feet stepping exactly in the front footprints in order to climb higher, faster, and safer?

And then this is what I heard from Holy Spirit.  This is why the Word specifically chose hinds feet to describe what God has given us.

As a believer, we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit, who directs our paths.  On our own, we only have two feet. But as believers, we have front feet that  are the Holy Spirit going before us, making a way for us. Our back feet are our feet, not just following Him, but  thinking, doing, acting, stepping exactly in the footprints of Holy Spirit.

This is where our agility, ability, and strength to conquer our predators of high places comes from. Spiritually, the beauty of this scripture is that we can run our life journey with abandonment because our way is made visible to us by the One who knows all.  We can have the assurance of outrunning or out performing the predators that try to rob us of our safety, our integrity, and our destiny. We can experience life to the fullest as Jesus came to give us.  We can live a life with overflowing joy in the Lord, regardless of our past, regardless of our present circumstances, regardless of the unknown future.

And now for a little fun.

Two more reasons to come to a Treasures Out of Trauma class:

We have fun!  Arlene, the author of our book, created icons to represent key points and definitions to make it easier to understand and remember. In last week’s class, I apparently created an icon that is stuck in all our  heads now.  I was reading the NKJV of  this scripture aloud, except that it sounded this way:  … And He will make me walk on my high heels.

I heard it come out that way, stopped abruptly, looked up and saw all of us are looking at each other, and then everyone burst out laughing. I think I will forever see a pair of high heels in my head when I read or think of this scripture. (I’m wearing high heels to conquer my high hills. These shoes do look more like hinds’ feet than my feet!)

Another reason to sign up for a class is that Chris is teaching us to use the  5 Principles of Bible Study, which is a method to study and meditate on a scripture, and then personalize it specifically to your life. This is my personalized version of this scripture for myself. I will leave you with these thoughts.

The Lord is my strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hinds’ feet…  not to stand still in terror, but to take action because He orders my steps and has given me the ability to tear down my high places of painful memories, troubles, and suffering.

I am filled with joy because I have married God’s goodness to my earthly contentment. God is not fazed by circumstances, therefore I am not fazed by my life’s circumstances.