“He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on my high places.” – Psalm 18:32
The Ibex is a wild mountain goat that has a knack for climbing crazy, steep areas. They look for nutrients in the rock that has calcium and other minerals essential to the Ibex. Without these minerals they would not live long. However, the minerals they need are lodged in the rock, up high in steep mountains or even dams. Dam walls carry many salts and minerals because of the added concrete they are made of. The fact that it is often a sheer wall does not demotivate the Ibex. In fact, only the Ibex will actually scale a vertical dam wall to get to those nutrients. It is an incredible thing to see.
Seeing this in action made me realize a little of what God was trying to promise us with this metaphor in Psalm 18. David wrote Psalm 18 after God had vindicated him, made him king, and delivered him from all his battles up to that point. He reflected on those trials and saw the mighty hand of God use those trials for a purpose and to bring him where he was at that point.
The trials I face in my life are often like a vertical dam. Anxiety grips me as I look up and the fear of heights begins to overtake me. However, just like that Ibex, I need that dam. There are amazing nutrients I receive if I choose to scale it with God’s power. And that’s the promise - He will make “my feet like a deer and sets me on my high places”. He will empower me to scale a vertical dam and receive necessary nutrients because of it. Facing my vertical “dam” is not pleasant nor comfortable. It often seems impossible to scale. Some of the “dams” in my life are taller and steeper than others. I don’t want to scale them. Yet, God has promised me that, like the Ibex, I can rest in His assurance that He will provide what I need to scale that “dam” and find purpose thru it. Sometimes traversing these dams is painful and we slip. Knowing that God will bring purpose out of the pain and hurt is very comforting and keeps me motivated to allow Him to take me step by step up and over my “dam”.
What “dams” are in your life right now? Don’t let their steep incline intimidate you. Take comfort in knowing that God has already placed a purpose in your life for that dam and He will not only give you what you need to climb it, but He will bring out blessings thru the journey that will help you, nourish you, and strengthen you. We need these trials to shape our character and show us God’s power as we rely on Him to get us up and over them.
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