P R E FAC ETO T H E A L L E G O RYOne morning during the daily Bible reading <strong>on</strong> our missi<strong>on</strong>compound in Palestine, our little Arab nurse read fromDaily Light a quotati<strong>on</strong> from the S<strong>on</strong>g of S<strong>on</strong>gs,“<strong>The</strong> voice ofmy Beloved! Behold, he cometh leaping up<strong>on</strong> the mountains,skipping up<strong>on</strong> the hills” (S<strong>on</strong>g of Solom<strong>on</strong> 2:8). When askedwhat the verse meant, she looked up with a very happy smile ofunderstanding and said,“It means there are no obstacles whichour Savior’s love cannot overcome, and that to Him, mountainsof difficulty are as easy as an asphalt road!”From the garden at the back of the missi<strong>on</strong> house at thefoot of Mount Gerizim we could often watch the gazellesbounding up the mountainside, leaping from rock to rock withextraordinary grace and agility.<strong>The</strong>ir moti<strong>on</strong> was <strong>on</strong>e of the mostbeautiful examples of exultant and apparently effortless ease insurmounting obstacles I have ever seen.How deeply we who love the Lord of Love and desire to followHim l<strong>on</strong>g for the power to surmount all difficulties and testsand c<strong>on</strong>flicts in life in the same exultant and triumphant way. Tolearn the secret of victorious living has been the heart’s desire ofthose who love the Lord, in every generati<strong>on</strong>.We feel we would give anything if <strong>on</strong>ly we could, in actualexperience, live <strong>on</strong> the <strong>High</strong> <strong>Places</strong> of love and victory here <strong>on</strong> this11
12 Hinds’ <str<strong>on</strong>g>Feet</str<strong>on</strong>g> On <strong>High</strong> <strong>Places</strong>earth and during this life—able always to react to evil, tribulati<strong>on</strong>,sorrow, pain, and every wr<strong>on</strong>g thing in such a way that they wouldbe overcome and transformed into something to the praise andglory of God forever.As Christians we know, in theory at least, thatin the life of a child of God there are no sec<strong>on</strong>d causes, that eventhe most unjust and cruel things, as well as all seemingly pointlessand undeserved sufferings, have been permitted by God as gloriousopportunities for us to react to them in such a way that ourLord and Savior is able to produce in us, little by little, His ownlovely character.<strong>The</strong> S<strong>on</strong>g of S<strong>on</strong>gs expresses the desire implanted in everyhuman heart, to be reunited with God Himself, and to know perfectand unbroken uni<strong>on</strong> with Him. He has made us for Himself,and our hearts can never know rest and perfect satisfacti<strong>on</strong> untilthey find it in Him.It is God’s will that some of His children should learn thisdeep uni<strong>on</strong> with Himself through the perfect flowering of naturalhuman love in marriage. For others it is equally His willthat the same perfect uni<strong>on</strong> should be learned through theexperience of learning to lay down completely this natural andinstinctive desire for marriage and parenthood, and accept thecircumstances of life which deny them this experience. Thisinstinct for love, so firmly implanted in the human heart, is thesupreme way by which we learn to desire and love God Himselfabove all else.But the <strong>High</strong> <strong>Places</strong> of victory and uni<strong>on</strong> with Christ cannotbe reached by any mental reck<strong>on</strong>ing of self to be dead to sin,or by seeking to devise some way or discipline by which the willcan be crucified.<strong>The</strong> <strong>on</strong>ly way is by learning to accept, day by day,the actual c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s and tests permitted by God, by a c<strong>on</strong>tinuallyrepeated laying down of our own will and acceptance of His as it ispresented to us in the form of the people with whom we have tolive and work, and in the things which happen to us. Every acceptanceof His will becomes an altar of sacrifice, and every such surrenderand aband<strong>on</strong>ment of ourselves to His will is a means offurthering us <strong>on</strong> the way to the <strong>High</strong> <strong>Places</strong> to which He desires tobring every child of His while they are still living <strong>on</strong> earth.
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