Monthly Archives: January 2023

What It Means to be Surefooted as a Deer

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It’s an interesting comparison that the prophet Habakkuk makes in Habakkuk 3:19; he says that God gives us strength and makes us surefooted as a deer. The King James Version says it this way:

The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.

Habakkuk 3:19 KJV

What is a hind?

A hind is actually a female red deer. I did a little digging this week to better understand this verse. Here’s what I found out. A hind won’t step on anything that is not sure and steady under its feet. What’s so interesting is that she will place her back feet exactly in the same place her front feet went. She is exactly sure footed, not off by an inch. Because of these two abilities, she is able to scale mountains and rocks without any fear of falling. It’s no wonder God told Habakkuk to use a deer as an example of sure footedness.

I haven’t seen too many deer up high in the mountains, but I have seen goats and mountain sheep high on the tops of mountains. It’s amazing to watch them. They are so sure footed, even on the side of a mountain. It’s the most amazing sight! Below are a few pictures I took from the road of big horn sheep climbing the mountains in Colorado.

They are so fearless as they traverse up and down the sides of mountains.

What does living like this look like?

When I see a picture like this with this verse in mind, it helps me to understand more clearly how God wants me to live my life. He wants me to so trust in him and in his goodness that I can literally bound around even dangerous places and not feel an ounce of fear because I know “God’s got this.”

I’m not sure how close to bounding you are right now. You may be the furthest thing away from that, and that’s okay. It just gives us a picture of how God created us and wants us to live. It gives us something to strive towards.

How do we live this way?

How do we live this way? What’s the secret? The secret lies in the preceding verses:

Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
    and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
    and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields,
    and the cattle barns are empty,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord!
    I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!

Habakkuk 3:17,18

If we want the surefooted confidence of a hind, we have to hand over the control of our lives to God and choose to rejoice no matter what comes our way. We can not control the circumstances in our lives, but we can control our response to those circumstances. And the response every time, according to these verses is supposed to be joy. It’s a choice. A choice to choose joy and to be as surefooted as the deer as we make our way through this life, or a choice to choose despair and frustration and find ourselves doubting, questioning, and stumbling on our difficult journey.

What does it mean to choose joy?

These verses are some of the most encouraging yet challenging verses in the Bible. How do we choose joy when life is so hard at times? I think we have to remember that joy doesn’t mean “happy” necessarily. It doesn’t mean we slap a smile on our faces when our world has just fallen apart.

It simply means that in the midst of the heartbreak, we choose to acknowledge that God is still good. That’s where our joy comes from. It comes from this deep place in side of us that goes deeper than simply “happiness.” It’s a deep understanding that I choose to still trust God and not let my circumstances determine my response.

So the next time you see a deer, stop for a moment and just watch it bound effortlessly away and remember these verses and let it remind you to choose joy every time.

More Encouragement

For more encouragement, check out my post Enjoy the Stage of Life You’re In.

I would be remiss to not mention a popular older book called Hind’s Feet in High Places that gets its name from these verses.

Finding Freedom from Comparing Ourselves

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Comparing ourselves to others is so easy; in fact, it’s too easy. Social media channels make it the easiest thing to see the perfect moments in somebody else’s life and feel the pressure that we don’t measure up. Do any of these thoughts feel familiar?

Comparing Ourselves

My house doesn’t look like that. I don’t know how she does that. She looks really good. How does she dress like that and look so good all the time? How are their kids so smart? Why doesn’t my husband say those things about me? I wish we had that kind of money. I wish we had a house like that. If we had more money, we could do that too. How do they make enough to get that car, that vacation, that….fill in the blank.

Have you ever found yourself spiraling with thoughts like these after being on social media? It doesn’t just have to come from social media, either. It can happen after going over to someone else’s house, after meeting with a friend for coffee, after seeing a commercial on tv. We find these thoughts pinging at us constantly. Satan knows just how to show us something that makes us want more than we have or make us think we don’t have enough.

Shaming Ourselves

Usually then, we take it one step further. We begin to shame ourselves for not measuring up to another person or idea. We feel completely inept and imperfect, and we begin to doubt ourselves. Then come the thoughts that paralyze us and keep us from moving forward.

I can’t do this. This isn’t working. I am a complete failure. How can anybody love me or stand to be around me? Why can’t I figure out life like everybody else? Why am I the only one who doesn’t have their act together?

I am so convinced that this is one of the greatest weapons Satan uses to keep us from doing what God wants us to do. He uses these doubts and questions to keep us side-lined or at least distracted. If we don’t feel good about ourselves, if we constantly doubt ourselves and feel shame, how in the world can we be of any use to God? The answer is we can’t be.

Emily Freeman, in her book, Simply Tuesday, says this:

The best way to sabotage my own success is to be obsessed with someone else’s.

Emily Freeman

Focusing Ourselves

The surest way to not succeed and not move forward in life is to focus on other people and their successes. Paul tells us how to combat this problem in the book of Galatians.

Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. For we are each responsible for our own conduct.

Galatians 6:4,5 NLT

And we’re reminded of the foolishness of comparing ourselves to others in II Corinthians.

For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

II Corinthians 10:12 KJV

Freeing Ourselves

So how do we free ourselves from the trap of comparison? Here are a few ways to get you started:

  1. Don’t compare yourself to others. Refuse to compare yourself or your work to other people or what they are doing. Keep your head down and stay focused on your own work.
  2. Take a break from social media, or limit your time on social media.
  3. Spend extra time each day practicing gratitude. Gratitude is a great way to combat envy.
  4. Start each day with God and get consistent with a morning time routine.
  5. Spend some time writing down your successes. What has God allowed you to accomplish? Then thank God for those successes.

Above all, remember that God created you uniquely you and gave you the talents and abilities needed to do the work he wants you to do. That’s all you have to focus on.

More Encouragement

For more on this topic, check out Sandra Stanley’s devotional Comparison Trap. It’s a 28-devotional and has a free accompanying app with corresponding videos.

You can also check out my Finding Free Products.

The Key to Unlocking Hope

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I wrote last week about my word of the year—believe. If you missed that post and want to read why I chose that word, check out my post , My Word for the Year. The more I think about belief, the more I am beginning to see how belief and hope are tied to each other.

Abraham Held Tightly to His Hope

One of the greatest examples of hope in the Bible is the story of Abraham and Sarah. Romans 4 tells us that even when there was no reason to keep hoping, Abraham held onto his hope.

Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!” And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb.

Romans 4:18,19 NLT

Abraham knew how old he was, and he knew how old Sarah was. He had every reason to give up hope that they would have a baby, but he stubbornly clung to hope.

How? How did he not lose hope? And how do we get that same kind of hope, a hope that doesn’t give up no matter what?

The Key to Unlocking Hope

The key to unlocking hope is belief. Abraham believed when there was no reason to; he kept hoping when it was long past time to give up hoping.

If you’re still alive, then it’s too soon to give up. If your heart is still beating in your chest, then there is still hope. There is still hope for your marriage. There’s still hope for your finances, for your unsaved loved ones, for your wayward child, for your health, for that impossible situation. Whatever it is, it’s not too late. There’s still time for God to work. The key is to believe that God can do whatever it is you’re asking him to do, and trusting that he will do it.

Don’t Give Up

Maybe you just need to be reminded today to stay in the fight. Don’t give up. Get back out there. Keep believing. Keep hoping. Wait with anticipation for God to work and to come through for you.

I can tell you this. If you stop believing, then it won’t come to pass. God cares too much about your faith. Faith is everything to him.

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

Hebrews 11:6 NLT

If You’ve Lost Your Hope

If you’ve lost your hope, here’s what you have to do. Go back to when it was that you stopped believing—when you stopped believing in God’s goodness, trusting God to come through for you. Go back to when God let you down. Start there. Have a painful conversation with God; write down your thoughts and pray them to your Father. You’re not going to hurt his feelings; he can handle it. Be honest. Tell him everything you are thinking and feeling.

Then, ask God to help you start believing again; that’s on him. The next part is on you. Now you have to choose to start believing again. It’s going to take some work at first. Just like strengthening any muscle that’s weak, it will take time. But if you keep doing it, if you keep exercising faith, you will find hope begin to bloom inside of you once again.

Here’s my prayer for you…


I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13 NLT

For More Encouragement

If you enjoyed this post, consider sending it to someone else to encourage them. For more encouragement, check out The One Guarantee if You Quit.

A great book to read about increasing your faith through prayer is Mark Batterson’s The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears. I highly recommend it!

My Word for the Year

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I can’t believe it’s January of a new year. Where did the time go?

A Look Back

Every year, Matt and I spend some time in December reflecting on the year. We write down all the good that happened. I’m always amazed at God’s goodness when we wrap up the year. 2022 was no different. We can see God’s hand and faithfulness all over our family this year.

After we finish processing the year, we move on to the new year. We write down our goals for the new year, what we want to accomplish, things we want to change, dreams we want to go after, and more.

My Word for the Year

Then, we choose a word to focus on for the year. Last year, at the beginning of the year, I chose the word fulfilled. I wanted to remember all year long that God was enough, and that I have all I need. My verse for the year was psalm 23:1.

The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.

Psalm 23:1

The word I chose for this year is believe. It’s a pretty common word. In fact, I saw it on so many Christmas T-shirts this year. The simple fact is I want to increase my faith; I want to take Jesus at his word. No more doubting, second guessing, stutter stepping, questioning…I want to believe. Like the disciples, I want to say, God, increase my faith. 

Choosing to Take God at His Word

The older I get and the more I grow in my faith, I realize how weak my faith is at times. As a child and then into my teen years and college years, I had no problems with faith. I had more faith than the next person, or at least I thought I did. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized how much I don’t believe—how much I doubt. 

This year, I am choosing to take God at his word. I am going to choose to believe that God will come through for me this time, just like he did last time. I will believe that God loves me, and I can rest in that love. It has nothing to do with whether I deserve it or not. I am choosing to believe that God will be enough when I fall short in my kids’ lives. I’m choosing to believe God is not done working in my life; and that he is going to use me in this new year, in spite of my failures. I will believe that I am doing the work he wants me to do, and that he will strengthen me and guide me in that work. I have some personal things I am choosing to believe God for this year as well.

Believe. 

It’s a simple word, but it’s power? Not quite so simple. The word believe is tied to faith, and faith can move mountains. I’m excited to see what mountains are going to move this year! Want to join me on the journey? 

That’s my word for this year. 

What’s yours? 

For More Encouragement 

If you want to find a word for the year but need help finding one, check out Day Spring. That’s how I found my word for 2022. You can also read my post, The No-Stress Way to Find Your Word for the Year.
Also, if you want to start January strong with a morning time routine, check out my morning time routine training videos. And be sure to visit Manney Resources. We have everything you need to get started—journals, devotionals, books, etc.