Book Club Questions for Hinds' Feet on High Places

1.The publisher's introduction suggests that the reader already senses God drawing her nearer. What does it mean to you personally to feel that 'drawing'? Have you experienced a season like that recently?

2.The allegory centers on a character named Much-Afraid. What does it communicate about the Christian life that Hurnard chose fear — not wickedness or rebellion — as Much-Afraid's defining struggle?

3.Habakkuk 3:19 speaks of God making our feet 'like hinds' feet' to walk on high places. What do you think it means spiritually to have 'hinds' feet'? What would those feet allow you to do that you currently cannot?

1.Much-Afraid's surname is not a character flaw assigned from outside — it is the name she has carried all her life. How do the fears we have lived with longest become part of how we identify ourselves?

2.The Fearing family — including Craven Fear, Self-Pity, Bitterness, and Pride — are not strangers to Much-Afraid; they are her relatives. What does it mean spiritually that our worst tendencies often feel like family — familiar, even comfortable?

3.Despite her fear, Much-Afraid loves the Chief Shepherd and longs to be near Him. How is it possible to genuinely love God and still be deeply, habitually afraid? How do you hold those two realities together in your own experience?

1.When the Shepherd invites Much-Afraid to the High Places, her first response is essentially: 'I can't. Look at me.' Have you ever responded to a sense of God's calling with a list of your inadequacies? What was that like?

2.The Shepherd does not remove Much-Afraid's limp before asking her to climb. He asks her to begin the journey as she is. What does this tell us about how God calls us — and how we tend to wait until we feel 'ready'?

3.Song of Solomon 2:10 records the beloved saying, 'Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.' Hurnard draws on this image to show the Shepherd's tender persistence. How does it change your picture of God to see His invitation as a lover's call rather than a commander's order?

1.Much-Afraid is stunned and confused when the path leads into the desert rather than upward toward the mountains. Can you recall a time when God's path for you went in a direction that felt completely wrong? What was your initial reaction?

2.Hurnard uses the desert as a picture of spiritual desolation — dryness, disorientation, and the apparent silence of God. What tends to characterize your own 'desert' seasons?

3.Deuteronomy 8:2 says God led Israel in the wilderness 'to humble you and to test you, to know what was in your heart.' What do desert seasons reveal about what is actually in our hearts that easier seasons might conceal?

1.The forests in the allegory represent seasons of spiritual darkness and threat — places where the enemy's voices grow louder. How does Much-Afraid maintain her footing when she cannot see clearly? What lessons does that hold for you?

2.In the Valley of Loss, Much-Afraid must surrender things she has been holding dear. Hurnard suggests that what we cling to most tightly is often what most needs to be released to God. What is one thing — a relationship, a dream, a sense of control — that you find hardest to open-hand before God?

3.Psalm 23:4 says 'though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.' How does the promise of presence — not the promise of safety — function as the source of courage in dark places?

1.Much-Afraid's crippled feet are most painfully apparent on the steep, rocky sections of the path. How does God use the places where we are weakest — rather than our strongest gifts — to accomplish His purposes?

2.The Shepherd does not carry Much-Afraid up the steep paths — He walks with her and encourages her. What is the difference between God carrying us through difficulty and God walking with us through it? Which do you tend to want, and which does He tend to provide?

3.Isaiah 40:31 promises that those who wait on the Lord will 'mount up with wings like eagles.' Yet Much-Afraid's journey involves a great deal of slow, painful climbing rather than soaring. How do you reconcile the promise of mounting up with the reality of the slow, rocky climb?

1.Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as 'the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.' How does Much-Afraid's journey through the mist and along the precipice illustrate this definition in a concrete, physical way?

2.Walking along a precipice requires placing your full weight on the path even when you cannot see what is below. How does genuine faith differ from optimism, positive thinking, or simply 'hoping things will work out'?

3.In the mist, Much-Afraid can no longer see the High Places or even the Shepherd clearly — she can only hear His voice. Have you experienced a season where you could not see God's hand but could still hear (or sense) His voice? What kept you moving?

1.Much-Afraid's journey takes far longer than she imagined, with detours she did not plan for. What does the length and difficulty of the journey reveal about what God is actually after — and how different is that from what we are usually after?

2.Proverbs 16:9 says, 'A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.' Where in your own life are you most aware of the tension between your plans and God's direction? How do you navigate that tension without either passivity or control?

3.Ecclesiastes 3:11 says God 'has made everything beautiful in its time.' How does trusting that promise change the way we experience seasons of waiting, delay, or apparent dead-ends?

1.Isaiah 43:2 promises: 'When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.' What does God promise in this verse — and what does He notably not promise?

2.Much-Afraid must enter the flooding water even though she cannot swim it alone. The Shepherd does not part the waters like the Red Sea — He crosses with her. What does this tell us about how God most often works in overwhelming circumstances?

3.What are the 'flooding rivers' in your own life right now — situations that feel beyond your capacity to manage, survive, or navigate?

1.When Much-Afraid arrives at the High Places, the Shepherd gives her a new name — Grace and Glory — because her old name no longer fits who she has become. What does a new name signify spiritually, and why is receiving a new identity from God such a central part of the transformative journey?

2.Much-Afraid also discovers that Sorrow and Suffering have been transformed — they are now Joy and Peace. Looking back at the journey, how does this transformation reframe everything those companions put her through? Did the pain serve what it promised?

3.The High Places are not a place of leisure — Much-Afraid (now Grace and Glory) is sent back down into the valleys to bring others up. What does this tell us about the purpose of spiritual transformation? Is it primarily for our own benefit?

1.Grace and Glory (formerly Much-Afraid) is sent back into the valleys she came from, but she is now different. What is the difference between returning to a difficult place unchanged and returning to it transformed? What changes about how you move through familiar terrain when you have been to the High Places?

2.2 Corinthians 1:3–4 says God comforts us so that we may comfort others 'with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.' How does Much-Afraid's painful journey equip her to help others in the valleys in a way that bypassing the pain never could?

3.The devotional is designed to help women 'understand your own struggles.' How does seeing your own struggles — your own valley, desert, and precipice — as preparation for ministry to others change your relationship to those struggles?

1.Looking back over the entire devotional and allegory, which week or chapter spoke most directly to where you are in your own journey right now? What made it so resonant?

2.At the beginning of this study, you were likely in a particular 'location' on the journey — valley, desert, steep path, precipice, or flood. Where were you then, and where do you sense you are now? Has anything shifted?

3.Much-Afraid's name changed to Grace and Glory. If your own 'Much-Afraid name' — the name that describes your defining fear or limitation — were to be transformed, what name would you hope God would give you? What would that transformation require?