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Footmen, Horses and a Swelling River

by Jerry Ousley  
1/28/2011 / Christian Living

Early in our marriage Deb and I attended a small rural church. I was an assisting minister and she worked with the youth. There came a time when we were raising money for a project. I can't remember what the project was now but I most certainly remember how we raised the money. It was decided that we have a ten mile walk-a-thon. Now folks I was much younger and in better shape then, but ten miles is ten miles regardless how old or young you are. To say it doesn't sound like all that far ten miles! In an automobile speeding down the road at sixty miles per hour you can cover ten miles in about ten minutes. Even if you slowed that vehicle to a creepy crawl at a whopping ten miles per hour you can cover it, yes simple mathematics says in one hour. The average human being walks at a pace of around three miles per hour so even at that we should be able to cover ten miles in three hours and twenty minutes. But somehow that ten mile walk took much longer.

I'll never forget that hot, beating down sun that blanketed us as we trudged down the road. And I also will never forget just how much my feet ached at the conclusion of that walk! Still in contrast, I'll never forget the relief of seeing the destination coming up in the distance as we neared the end of that walk. Oh what a relief it was to get home, take off those shoes that had felt comfortable at the beginning but were now cramping my aching feet as if they were holding the pain in. Man, when I removed those shoes it was like my feet just dumped all over the floor and it felt gooood!

Many times during that walk I was tempted to just quit. There were several stopping points along the way. A couple of people drove back and forth along the route that twisted and turned through the country checking on the different groups that had broken up during the walk. At any of those times one could hop in the truck and end their journey. Or they could stop at one of the resting places and wait. Several did exactly that. As I said, I was sorely tempted to do the same. But my pride kept me going. How could I, a grown man, stand in front of those young people involved and admit that I couldn't make it? Better yet, how could I face my wife who was determined to go all the way? Nope; there was no alternative but to finish what had been started. I did, but I'm not looking forward to any of those hikes again!

The prophet Jeremiah spoke of such a thing, only his subject was much more serious than a simple ten mile walk-a-thon. In Jeremiah 12:5 we read, "'If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with the horses? And if in the land of peace, in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?'" He was speaking about life and the coming calamity of the nation of Israel. The footmen were men of war running into battle. They were the easiest of the warriors of the advancing enemy to defeat. The horsemen were above you on horseback with heavy shields and deadly weapons sent crashing down upon their victims. They were much worse to contend with. Finally the floodplain of the Jordan was about the worse place to be. During the rainy season the river always spilled over its banks into this plain. When it was the dry season the water receded but left behind a swampy area full of thickets, snakes, and dangerous animals. It was the third example of the prophet and the hardest to make it through.

We can also compare these situations with our lives today. We will have seasons of difficulty during life whether we are Christians or not. Of course each is easier to go through with Christ on our side. There will be the footmen; things we face daily, temptations, trials and situations we'd rather not encounter. They would be like walking a ten mile hike. But we must ask ourselves, "If I can't make it during these daily things, these footmen, how can I ever expect to do battle with the horsemen or worse yet, go through the thickets in the flood plain of the Jordan?

Each of us will live our own definitions of these three and each of us will have our unique circumstances to face. Just remember that you can defeat the footmen. Don't give up and don't jump into the rescue vehicle but press on to the goal and when you do you will find added strength to face the horsemen and that thicket of your own Jordan.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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