“ .. For ye have not passed this way heretofore” Joshua 3:4

“Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant; and I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure…” Genesis 33:14

What a beautiful picture of Jacob’s thoughtfulness for the cattle and the children! He would not allow them to be overdriven even for one day. He would not lead on according to what a strong man like Esau could do and expected them do, but only according to what they were able to endure. He knew exactly how far they could go in a day; and he made that his only consideration in arranging the marches. He had gone the same wilderness journey years before, and knew from personal experience all about its roughness, heat and length. And so, knowing that the others had not passed this way before, he said “I will lead on softly.”

We have not passed this way heretofore, but the Lord Jesus has. It is all untrodden and unknown ground to us, but He knows it all by personal experience. The steep parts that take away our breath, the stony bits that make our feet ache so, the hot, shadeless stretches that make us feel so exhausted, the rushing rivers that we have to pass through—Jesus has gone through it all before us. “He was wearied with his journey.” Not some, but all the many waters went over Him, and yet did not quench His love. He was made a perfect leader by the things which He suffered. “He knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” Think of that when you are tempted to question the gentleness of His leading. He is remembering all the time; and not one step will He make you take beyond what your foot is able to endure. Never mind if you think your foot will not be able because of the step that seems to come next; either He will so strengthen it that it shall be able, or He will call a sudden halt, and you shall not have to take it at all!

In “pastures green”? Not always; sometimes He Who knowest best, in kindness leadeth me In weary ways, where heavy shadows be.

So, whether on the hill-tops high and fair I dwell, or in the sunless valleys, where The shadows lie, what matter? He is there.