Feet for the Path
Brad Gray
“The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.”
- Habakkuk 3:19 [NIV]
The deer referenced in this passage is the Nubian ibex. They reside primarily in the Middle East, particularly in rocky, harsh, desert mountains. They’re fascinating creatures because they have the ability to scale steep slopes effortlessly. I first saw the ibex in action in the Israeli deserts in the summer of 2006 (and every year since). It was a thing of beauty. As I was slipping down the sides of these mountains, the ibex moved up and down the mountain effortlessly. My inability to keep my footing probably looked ridiculous to them.
What makes these ibex able to “tread on the heights” is their feet. God designed their cloven hooves to be strong and agile, enabling them to traverse and scale rocks with stability and ease. This distinctive gift allows them to live and survive in places most of us would find terrifying. Inspired by the Ibex, the prophet Habakkuk declares that the LORD is his strength, and that God gives him the feet of a deer that enables him to tread on the heights. Eventually, a prayer developed around the idea of having feet like an ibex. The prayer asks, “LORD, make my feet like the feet of a deer so that I may walk the path you have laid out before me.
Life is often portrayed as a path in the Bible. We’re all on a path. Sometimes our path leads to joy, excitement, and satisfaction. Other times, it leads to sadness, frustration, and pain. We even use the language of “mountaintop” and “valley” to describe those moments when things are amazing or incredibly difficult. But for the most part, life is the path winding back and forth between the heights and the depths. There’s no getting around the fact that sometimes the path is scary. God never promised that our path would be easy or without trials.
When things are hard, we often pray for God to change our circumstances or our path (heal the disease, fix the relationship, provide the finances, etc.). And of course, we should pray that! But what if this kind of prayer is incomplete? What if we focus so much on asking God to change our path, that we miss the invitation of the heights? The invitation of the heights is to develop feet for the path we’re on. God may or may not answer our prayers for a different path, but I’m convinced he’ll always give us what we need to walk the path.
Wherever your path is leading you, may God give you feet for the path!