Yoder: The Strong Knees Family

By Kathy Yoder

“For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).

I once saw a robin walking in the middle of the street. Finally, when he either had to move or get run over, he flew to the side of the road. Then he started walking again. Why?

Why would he walk when he can fly? It doesn’t make any sense. I understand that he has to stop flying so he can go grocery shopping. Worms don’t just run up to robins and say, “Well, here I am – your lunch, delivered to you.”

Robins have to work for their food. They have to find water, too. But he wasn’t drinking or looking for food. He was just … walking. Maybe he only remembers he can fly in times of great danger.

A large, extended family lived near a railroad bridge. They made a daily trip to town. The children followed their parents who followed their parents who followed their parents.

How did they travel? They got down on their hands and knees and crawled over the old, rickety train tracks, suspended above a turbulent river. They’d heard that the bridge had flooded in the past. And they were told that trains still, on occasion, traveled these very tracks.

After hearing these warnings for several generations, the family came to believe that the stories were, well … old fashioned and based on no truth at all. Laughing at the imagined danger, they continued traveling the way they always had, becoming a people with very rough and calloused knees.

Can you imagine the pain? The family was proud of their endurance. In fact, they bragged so much that the town’s people called them the Strong Knees Family.

One day a man was walking through the countryside when he came upon their house. They invited him in for a cold drink of water. As he was leaving, he went around the railroad bridge, walking on the road instead. He walked standing up tall. The Strong Knees Family was so shocked. They yelled after him, “Come back! You can’t go that way! Hurry, before it’s too late!”

The stranger heard the yelling. Thinking the family was in danger, he ran back to them. Breathless, he asked, “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“You’re going the wrong way!” said the oldest father.

Not understanding, the stranger said, “I thought this was the way to town.”

“It is, but you have to go over the railroad tracks. The way you’re going is too narrow. Come, follow us. We’re ready to leave for town.”

Still not understanding, the stranger watched as the family lined up from the oldest to the youngest. All got down on their hands and knees and crawled over the railroad bridge. Some ties were broken and sharp. Others were missing and left huge holes, but the family crawled on. The last one, the youngest son, looked back at the stranger and said, “Hey, what are you doing?”

The stranger replied, “That’s not the way to go. People weren’t meant to crawl on their bellies like snakes.”

 “Really?” said the son.

“No, God created people to walk upright.”

The visitor went back to his narrow path, as the Strong Knees Family continued crawling on their knees.

It began raining. The water beneath the railroad bridge swelled so quickly that the family realized it was only a matter of minutes before the bridge was flooded. Without speaking, every member of that family stood up and ran across the bridge to safety.

We weren’t meant to keep our faith hidden, squashed down in the dirt, camouflaged by pride and pain and tradition and misinformation. God didn’t make us to crawl, He intended for us to fly.

Don’t be like the robin, only remembering your faith when you’re in danger. God gives us the ability to have great faith every moment of every day. It’s easy to crawl in the dirt, but it takes true courage to soar in faith. But once you do, you’ll never crawl in dirt again.

If you want to be part of the Strong Knees Family, don’t crawl over old railroad bridges of life, but get down on your knees and pray.

“But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31).

Kathy Yoder is a devotional writer and Christian author. She may be reached at Kathyyoder4@gmail.com.