Have you ever tweaked your foot, or knee, through just the simple movement of stepping down off of a step, or an uneven surface? Well, I have. It can be so frustrating at the time. At the end of January in 2019, while walking in to the hospital to visit our newborn granddaughter, I stepped off the side of the curb and felt something in my left bottom heel twinge. For about six weeks afterward I experienced pain off and on when I walked. Typically, it was after having been off of my feet for a little while and I would stand to walk again. It felt like a deep bruise and in compensating for it, I found myself getting off balance as I tried to not place my weight on that foot.
I began to contemplate the importance of being steady. Solid. Surefooted. When we are not able to walk surefooted, it can have ramifications for our whole body. It can cause pain and discomfort as your body tries to compensate. Whether caused by an injury, or by walking on uneven ground, being steady when you walk is important to good health.
The Word of God is filled with references of walking on solid ground, or of being surefooted in times of peril. A few examples I found were:
Psalm 40:2 He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.
Psalm 18: 31-33, 2 Samuel 22. For who is God except the LORD? Who but our God is a solid rock? God arms me with strength, and he makes my way perfect. He makes me as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights.
Habakkuk 3:19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.
When we are unsure. When it feels like we are pressed on every side. When the ground we are walking on seems unsteady. When we loose our balance, whether through our pain and brokenness, or, through the shifting sand beneath our feet. The circumstances of life. We can have confidence the Sovereign Lord will make a way. We can place our hope in him.
There is an old hymn whose lyrics state:
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name
On Christ the solid Rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand
One morning, out of the blue, I woke up and found my foot no longer hurt when I went to stand. The pain disappeared as quickly as it appeared. There was a process of healing that took place between that first twinge and the chilly February morning when my foot hit the ground pain free. I experienced some discomfort as I would stretch out the muscles and tendons in the bottom of my foot trying to create some relief. But healing did come.
My prayer for you, is that whatever pain you are experiencing, whether through what life has thrown your way, or maybe even through a misstep, you will find yourself standing up straight and tall. Pain free. It may not happen overnight, but a time will come when you will wake up to the dawn of a new day, and when you slip your feet out from under the covers and place your feet on the ground, the Solid Rock, you will realize the pain is no longer there.
He will make you surefooted. He will give you the strength to stand on solid ground. He will steady you. He will bring the healing you need. You will run, not just walk, on the heights.