Growing up a pastor's son/ homeschool kid, it was probably inevitable that I would read The Chronicles of Narnia. C.S. Lewis' only works for children were not 'dumbed down' versions of his other works but rather a series of fairy tales that applied theological principles to stories of witches, dwarfs, fauns, and centaurs. I think my favorite tale in the chronicles is The Horse and His Boy. It centers around Shasta- the adopted 'son' of a cruel fisherman who plans to sell the boy as a slave, Avaris-the daughter of a noble family who's on the run from an arranged marriage, and Bree and Hwin- two Narnian horses from a breed granted by Aslan with the gifts of intelligence and speech but held captive in the tyrannical Kingdom of Calormen like normal horses. Aslan helps their escape, but often without their knowledge and probably not in ways they would choose.
Aslan certainly helps the four escapees get to Narnia, but He hardly coddles them. It is revealed near the end of the story that HE had chased them twice in the guise of a normal, hungry lion. And in that disguise He even claws Avaris' back to the point of drawing blood. Aslan is most definitely NOT a tame lion. However, it is also revealed that He had a purpose in all these actions: The first chase was orchestrated in such a way that Shasta, Bree, Avaris and Hwin would all find each other. The second chase was to get them to outrun an invading Calormen army. And Avaris' mauling was actually a surgically precise punishment for a sinful action she had committed without repentance or remorse early in the story- not a drop of blood more or less than was just. It's not all righteous fury and tough love of course, halfway through the tale Aslan takes the form of a lion to drive away jackals that threaten Shasta and then shape-shifts into the form of a house cat to comfort the boy through a lonely night (although the Shasta was too dazed and fearful to understand what he had seen until much later). At the end of story all is revealed and each of the four escapees has reached freedom and true bliss by Aslan's actions- but not all of them were pleasant in the moment. The Lion was working for their Joy, not their enjoyment.
I have found this story to be very true in our world as well. This Spring I had been asking God for clarity in my romantic life and wondering why I seemed to stuck hitting a brick wall ( I'm already a Junior here God, and the prospects don't get any better after graduation. Let's get things moving, OK?). One day in about March I was sitting the library reiterating these questions when I got an answer: Here's your clarity: you're after a girlfriend because you are looking for an ego boost. You are looking to that girl for your worth and that's not going to fly. You find your worth in Me. If I were to get you together with someone now you would get comfortable and quit. We'll deal with this issue later, for the moment I'm building you.
Hey, I asked for clarity.
Shortly thereafter I got this image in my head of a sword being forged. How do you make a sword? You rip metal out of its natural environment, heat it in an industrial-strength furnace, hammer out all impurities in the ore, forge it into the proper shape by whatever means necessary, drown it in water, grind it against a whetstone to sharpen it, and THEN you have a sword. It's not pleasant for the metal but would you rather be a bunch of raw materials sitting around or would you rather be an object of great skill, use, and beauty? (Or, while we're thinking about C.S. Lewis, I'm reminded of his analogy of a cottage that asks the Master Builder to repair the dripping faucet and squeaky step, but He quickly starts painfully ripping out walls and building whole new rooms because He is going to make that cottage into a mansion.)
And it's been just like that ever since. I've had to learn to "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God", how to move forward even in the face of uncertainty, how to show sacrificial love and patience when my nature is NOT in a loving or patient mood, how to cast aside lusts of the flesh and replace them with heavenly loves, and how to leave behind the habits of a boy and develop those of a man. And as much as we love our storybook endings, I don't have one yet. I can honestly say I've made progress, but the Lord has still seen it fit in His wisdom to keep me where I am. I do not write to gather praise or pity but only to speak from experience. God is not out to make us miserable, He is out for our greatest possible joy. And He's willing to do what it takes to get us there.
"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1: 2-4 (ESV)
No comments:
Post a Comment