Hinds’ Feet

In Cambodia I was recommended to read a book called “Hinds’ Feet on High Places” by Hannah Hurnard. I felt the Lord really nudged me to read this and He used this book to speak to me very specifically and to show me the next season of my life through lots of imagery. This book has touched me in so many ways. Now I can see and explore the riches of the real Christ through these things and express my love for Him and the lessons He’s teaching me through poetic imagery.

As I was reading the book, the Lord showed me that I was the main character. He brought up lots of moments of my life that related to the character’s as I was reading through her life with the Shepherd. Before I begin to unfold the goodness of the Lord and what He did, I must ease you in with a summary of this book, but through my eyes and my personal experiences.

 

“A New Name with Hinds’ Feet” by Lexi Blatt inspired by Hannah Hurnard’s “Hinds’ Feet on High Places”

In the Valley of Fear, there was a deer named Unclean. Now, I won’t get into every little detail about her, but she had lived there her whole life. She was crippled with anxiety, depression, sexual sin, and fear. She was wrapped up in all of this sin and always felt abandoned, scared of everything, timid. Then one day in her village she saw this Shepherd tending to His sheep. He went by her village everyday to lead His flock to the waters. One of the days where she saw Him, she was so drawn to Him that she followed Him to the waters. She met Him and they start talking. They talked about life, and the Shepherd started sharing scripture with her. Every day at the same time, the Shepherd would pass by the village calling her name to meet by the waters. Unclean was learning things from Him, and He would always talk about the beauty of the High Places. Unclean was so intrigued. She wanted to see the High Places herself. So finally, one day she asked Him, “Shepherd, can I come to the High Places with You?” And He responded with a smile on His face, “I have been waiting for you to ask that. I would be thrilled to take you! But there are some things you need to know about the journey to the High Places.” He started talking about how difficult and dangerous it would be. He then explained why it is so difficult: “so nothing which is the enemy of Love can make the climb and invade the Kingdom.” He said, “Nothing blemished or in any way imperfect is allowed there, and the inhabitants of the High Places do need Hind’s feet.” The Shepherd adds, “Up on the mountains, as you get near the High Places, the air is fresh and invigorating. It strengthens the whole body and there are streams with wonderful healing properties, so that those who bathe in them find all their blemishes and disfigurements washed away. The High Places are where perfect love casts out all fear and everything that torments.” Unclean is just fascinated. She starts thinking about how amazing the High Places would be, amazing to get out of her village and to explore something new, amazing to get away from her family members that torment her. He notices the wonder in her eyes and challenges her. “Are you willing to be completely changed, and to be made new like the new name which you will receive if you become a citizen in the Kingdom of Love? Will you allow me to plant the seed of Love in your heart and make your feet like hind’s feet?” Unclean responds with an inexplicable joy. “Oh, yes! Take me to the High Places!” The Shepherd smiles even more this time. “It will take time to develop Hind’s feet and to climb to the High Places, but if I put the seed of Love in your heart now, then it will be ready to bloom by the time you get there.” She shouts with excitement. “Put the seed of Love in my heart, Shepherd!” He reaches down into His bag and pulls out the seed. She notices it’s a thorn. She looks so intently at the thorn and up at His face with concern. “I thought this was supposed to be the seed of Love.” she says. The Shepherd responds, “Love and Pain go together, for a time at least. If you know Love, you must know Pain too.” Unclean is frightened at the thought of pain. That’s all she has known, but she is so desperate to feel Love; to know Love. She nods her head in approval, and He pushes the thorn into her heart. She felt this prick at first, but then her heart was full of sweetness. She felt so different. Praises and thanksgiving were brought forth from her heart. The development of Hind’s feet is a secret process demanding that there should be no onlookers. So her journey to the High Places started, but in a secret matter.

Her journey to the mountain tops was not as she thought it was going to be. The Shepherd ended up taking her far away from the High Places and into the desert. Though He had planted the seed of Love in her heart, she was easily swayed by her emotions and the circumstances of this world. Still hurting from past troubles, she would easily forget the seed of Love in her heart and the depth of its meaning through all the detours to the mountain tops. She was constantly questioning if going to the High Places was worth it, if He was still worthy to be followed, if going through all of this was worth the hinds’ feet. He was taking her through all of these places to get to the High Places, but at every detour, she would begin to panic. She would call upon the Shepherd and He would meet her in her doubts. “This further delay is not unto death, but for the glory of God; that the son of God may be glorified” He would say.

Through all of her wounds and disfigurements, she thought to herself, “I can’t possibly make it up to the mountains. I am unable.” But the Shepherd constantly whispered in her ear, “Your blemishes I will not see, but love the beauty that shall be. I will make you able.” He saw her at her worst and still loved her, even through all her doubts, her self pity, pride, fear, and anger. He gave her strength to build an altar at every moment she faced doubt, or faced confusion as to how this is the right path for her to take, and even when she felt a pull to just give up and to go back down to the Valley of Fear, He helped her utter the words that were deep in her heart in every trial: “I am here and I will go with you anywhere.”

It was such a long and hard journey. After the dreary desert and some lessons He taught, she reached the end of a shore, looking out to see nothing but water. After that some more lessons were taught on Love. She then encountered a great sea wall. At this wall the Shepherd wanted nothing more but for Unclean to simply enjoy the view. She had been through many obstacles and used so much strength for the journey so far. The Shepherd suggested that He would carry her up instead of her using her own strength. He didn’t do that all the time, because if He did then she would never develop hind’s feet and become His companion wherever He went. In a minute they were moving smoothly and steadily toward the High Places which had looked so impossibly out of reach, supported entirely from above, and she had nothing to do but rest and enjoy the marvelous view. After all this time going through the desert, to the shore, up the precipice, it felt like she was finally making some progress. She was being lifted up, and she was astounded at the beauty of the shore from above. After she got up, she realized the path was leading directly towards the mountains. She was so excited! She started on the path. Then she realized it was another detour: the forest with fog. The mist in the mountains. She couldn’t see as far as her hand. So she was compelled to fully rely on the Shepherd’s guidance. Even though Unclean thought she knew a better way to get to the mountain tops, she wanted to trust Him. She faced her enemies Pride, Resentment, Bitterness, Abandonment, Anxiety, Depression. They whispered in her ear to turn back, trying to deceive her into thinking He wasn’t actually leading her to the High Places. She began to sing a song which the Shepherd had taught her, a song that blocked out the voices of her enemies. Through some more pit stops, detours, and more lessons she reached the High Places…well, not the REAL High Places. At this place stood Unclean, a tiny figure at the foot of the mighty cliffs, looking up at the great, never-ending rush of waters as they cast themselves down from the High Places. The water was joyful and happily singing to go low and low. The water hit the rocks and splashed her face with refreshment. The clouds were so big and fluffy, the sun was bright, and they were close to the top…but not quite there. The Shepherd spoke. “Perhaps it may even seem as though everything you have seen of the High Places was just a dream, or the work of your own imagination. But you have seen reality and the mist which seems to swallow it up is the illusion. Believe steadfastly in what you have seen. Even if the way up to the High Places appears to be obscured and you are led to doubt whether you are following the right path, always go forward along the path of obedience as far as you know it, until I intervene, even if it seems to be taking you on a path that you fear I could never lead you down. Remember, the things you have seen before the mist blotted it out.”

From there she was encouraged, but after some more detours she began to doubt again. “Was that a dream? Was I actually that close to the High Places?” she thought. The things she saw were now just a memory in her head. She failed to remember all the details. She could not remember the fresh air, the smell of the flowers, or the warmth of the sun. Trying to grasp on to that memory, she kept going, walking to the High Places on the path the Shepherd had put her on. After some more walking and climbing, the path led her to an altar which was bright gold and burning with incense. “This is the place to which I bring my beloved, that they may be anointed in readiness for their burial” said the Shepherd. Unclean, fully willing to be bound on the altar, she laid her life down and even her hopes of the promise of hinds’ feet. A sense of utter, overwhelming rest and peace engulfed Unclean. But she was so exhausted she fell asleep. When she woke, everything was shimmering in a blaze of radiant sunshine that burnished every object with glory. She lay still a little longer, collecting her thoughts and trying to understand where she was. She gradually started to remember. She stood up and looked around. She now saw the source of the waterfall she’d seen before. It flowed from under the altar to which He had bound her. Cheerful little chirping birds, insects and butterflies were flitting everywhere among the flowers. She remembered the healing streams of which the Shepherd had spoken, which gushed out of the ground on the High Places. She saw it and then went in joyfully. Coming out of the water, she noticed that her disfigurements and blemishes were no longer. She officially had hinds’ feet. She danced and danced and joy overcame her. Songs of thanksgiving poured out from her lips. “I made it!” said Unclean. The Shepherd comes up and sees her smiling and laughing, admiring the High Places. “I see you have hinds’ feet now. Come, let’s try them out,” He said. Every nerve in her body surged with a desire to respond to the call, and she felt her feet and legs tingling with an almost irresistible urge to go bounding up the mountains. She followed Him up the mountain leaping and springing in a perfect ecstasy of delight. He led her to the edge and told her to look down. The Shepherd spoke. “Surely you remember. Down there, that’s the Valley of Fear.” She looked down and she was shocked. How small it was. She marveled at the grace and love and tenderness and patience which had led and trained and guarded and kept poor faltering Unclean, which had not allowed her to turn back, and which now changed all her trials into glory. “I think it’s time to give you your new name now. From henceforth, you are Clean,” He declared. She stood in awe and wonder. “Clean!” she exclaimed. “I am clean! Clean from sexual sin, and from all unclean spirits. Lord, you have delivered me! You have pulled me out of the mud and the mire and set my feet on solid ground! What joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. Yes! What joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin!!” As she looked down at the Valley with compassion rising up in her heart, the Shepherd gave her another revelation: the Shepherd had brought her up to the Kingdom of Love and to the High Places so that she could now pour out her life in gladdest abandonment, leaping down with him to the sorrowful, desolate places below, to share with others the life which she had received. She herself was only one drop among that glad, exultant throng of Self-givers, the followers of the King of Love, united with him and with one another, each one equally blessed and beloved as herself. “For He loves each one of us,” she said to herself, “as though there was only one to love.”

Clean began to understand that the truth cannot be understood from books alone, or by any written words, but only by personal growth and development in understanding, and that things written even in the Book of Books can still be astonishingly misunderstood while one still lives on the low levels of spiritual experience and on the wrong side of the grave on the mountains.

“Now, this is simply just one of the High Places out of countless ones in the Kingdom of Love,” said the Shepherd, “and this is just the beginning for you.”

THE END

*quotes from the actual book are in bold*

Testimony

I could honestly talk about a whole lot of stuff that led up to this point. What the Lord had spoken over me on Jan 3rd of this year, the visions and dreams I’ve had. Visions that other people had for me. It all led up to this moment. He delivered me out of the mud and the mire and set my feet on solid ground. HE SET THIS CAPTIVE FREE!! My mind can’t comprehend the goodness of the Lord. His unfailing love is as vast as the Heavens; His faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. His righteousness is like the mighty mountains, His justice like the ocean depths. He cares for people and animals alike, O Lord. How precious is His unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of His wings. He feeds them from the abundance of His own house, letting them drink from His river of delights. For He is the fountain of life, but light by which we see!

This reminds me of Jeremiah 32:38-41
“And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.”

He has instilled the fear of the Lord in my heart by overwhelming me with His grace and goodness so that I may not turn away from Him!!

His works are so vast! I am clean. CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN. From my past and of unclean spirits! I HAVE A NEW NAME, HINDS’ FEET, AND A NEW MIND!

(September 28th the Lord gave me my new name before I even knew He was taking me to the High Places!)

 

The Language of the Heights
by Lexi Blatt

pause and listen
do you hear it?
the songs, of course!
whether in the valley or the mountains
you must learn to sing their song
he’s taken you here for you to see
the flowers of the valley that bloom and sing
their colors are magnificent
shining as the sun kisses them
they reach out to the rays
and oh how they sing
‘how lucky are we to be dressed in beauty,
even if no one sees’
he’s telling you to pause and listen
tune into the language of the valley
what they’re saying is important for the heights
because their song is quite the same
the mountains are singing beautiful harmonies
see the waters glistening?
they laugh and dance, going to the lowest place of all
finding joy in self-giving
they feel called to go low and so must we, even in the heights
the cold mountain air freshens up your lungs
speaking to you ever so softly their melodies
teaching you the Way of the heights
all because of the Shepherd that led you there
so enjoy the view!
enjoy their melodies
but if you’re still in the valley
and you want to come to the high places
build an altar
and watch him carry you into fresh heights
but you must first learn to appreciate the song of the valley.
because they’re singing the same song

 

Fundraising

I am still fundraising!

1 Chronicles 29:14 says “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from You, and we have given You what only comes from Your hand.” This confirms where all the resources come from. I believe He has appointed certain people to come alongside me, pray with me, and donate towards this mission for the Gospel. My calling, my ministry, the person I am asking, their assets, everything is all His. I am simply a mediator seeking to connect His people and His resources with His plan.

I am officially at 82% HOLY COW! THE LORD IS SO FAITHFUL! And thank you for faithfully sowing into the Gospel!! But I still need your help! My next deadline is February 15th! I have $2,950 left to get!

I am asking you to take action and pray to see where the Lord leads! Partnership is so beautiful in the kingdom of God. Would you consider praying about making a one time or monthly donation to me as I partner with Jesus to reach the people who are lost? Our obedience increases the capacity at which the Spirit of God moves!
If He leads you to give, you can do so by the link in my Instagram and Facebook bio, through Venmo @Lexi-Blatt, or you can click this link

https://adventuresinmissions.servicereef.com/events/adventures-in-missions-3/2023-world-race-gap-year-route-3/participants/lexiblatt

I am extremely grateful for all of your prayers and donations. I would not have been able to reach the people I did if it wasn’t for you. THANK YOU THANK YOU.

Until next blog,

Lexi B 🙂