Encouragement from Lewis

C.S. Lewis is bay far one of my favorite authors.  I was introduced to him first by reading 'Mere Christianity' sometime in my teenage years and have since read most of his works.  While all of them have different merits of their own, I return again and again to the Chronicles of Narnia.  Picking a favorite among these is as difficult for me as picking a favorite flower, but if forced I think I would say 'The Horse and His Boy'.  It is a relatively simple story, but it always brings such excitement and joy to my heart that I return to it again and again.

During my explorations of Lewis' works I have found that he, like every human author, has faults, both in personality and in theology.  I have also learned the many limitations of allegory since my first reading of the Narnia series.  Yet, even with all that in mind, you will be hard pressed to find an author who makes you yearn after heaven and the person of Christ more than Lewis.  I feel he does a beautiful job of quietly reminding us of those pure longings we all have, but try to ignore or distract ourselves from.  That longing of a different world, one that is complete and not marred by sin, the longing of being known by our Savior, being able to see Him face to face, and after once tasting that always desiring more, the longing for significance, purpose and belonging in our life.  Often times we are unconsciously trying to filling these desires with what the world has to offer, and finding ourselves dissatisfied.  Lewis, through his allegory, points us in another direction, and eternal direction, in such a beautifully simple way that we often disregard it.  "If I find myself with a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." - Mere Christianity


Sorry, I am dragging on.  I say all of this as an introduction to my favorite part in possibly my favorite Lewis work.  It is a timely reminder that I cannot see the 'Big Picture' of what God is doing in and around me in all the many circumstances - good and bad - I might find myself in; that even when things seem difficult and don't make sense, He is in control, and working for my ultimate good and His ultimate glory.  With out further ado, The Horse and His Boy page 174...

 Once more he felt the breath of the Thing on his hand and face. "There," it said, "that is not the breath of a ghost. Tell me your sorrows."

Shasta was a little reassured by the breath: so he told how he had never known his real father or mother and had been brought up sternly by the fisherman.  And then he told the story of his escape and how they were chased by lions and forced to swim for their lives; and of all their dangers in Tashban and about his night among the tombs and how the beasts howled at him out of the desert.  And he told about the heat and thirst of their desert journey and how they were almost at their goal when another lion chased them and wounded Aravis.  And also, how very long it was since he had had anything to eat.

"I do not call you unfortunate," said the Large Voice.

"Don't you think it was bad luck to meet so many lions?" said Shasta.

"There was only one lion," said the Voice.

"What on earth do you mean? I've just told you there were at least two the first night, and-"

"There was only one: but he was swift of foot."

"How do you know?"

"I was the lion."  And as Shasta gaped with open mouth and said nothing, the Voice continued.  "I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis.  I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept.  I was the lion who gave the horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so you should reach King Lune in time.  And I was the lion you do not remember, who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you."

So often I fall into Shasta's trap and automatically bemoan my situation.  Which is why this is so encouraging to me.  In the midst of my self-pity and narrow-mindedness, God is working.  Often in spite of me!  Praise God, He is not limited by me!  This is further encouraging that the Lord is right beside us, directing our steps, even in the midst of painful or frustrating situations.  I pray that I can live this conviction, that the Lord gives me the confidence to face whatever comes with the knowledge that He is ultimately in control - and that is a very good thing.