I have never read the Chronicles of Narnia series, but I know one scene from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe like the back of my hand because it so often comes up in discussions of whether God is good or not. The children are getting ready to meet Aslan and Susan asks if He is safe. Seems like a logical question when one is preparing to meet a lion and the answer “yes” is of course the one you would like to hear. Yet the response given is this, “‘Course He isn’t safe. But He’s good. He’s the King, I tell ya.”
As I have delved deeper into the heart of God, I have learned something. Following God isn’t going to be safe. In fact, perhaps the Christian life should come with a warning. Hardship up ahead. And if we ever doubt that, we just have to take one glance back at Job to know that perhaps today might be the day that everything goes amiss. Pretty depressing take on it. But that isn’t the end. See the thing is, following God may not be safe, but it is secure. We can trust that God’s heart is good. We can trust that He is pursuing us. He loves us. He wants to be intimately acquainted with us. And He wants our lives to bring Him glory no matter what on earth happens. I have found that the more I pursue God, the more I fall madly in love with Him. The less I question what He is doing and the more I question what I am doing. If God is good, then I can trust His heart. I, then, just need to align my heart with His. I want to weep over what He weeps over. I want to rejoice over what He rejoices over. I want to love those He loves. And I want to continue drinking in His presence, even when I can barely find it in the midst of life.
So, I finally came to the conclusion that God is good. And everything in my life went crazy. I had a real decision to make then. Was I going to continue to trust that God is good? Or was I going to blame Him for the hurt and the pain and the confusion and the lack of direction? I decided that I was simply going to trust. I wasn’t going to question His heart. In that, I found a peace I have never felt. I found love. I found acceptance. And I found that life falling apart was the necessary step for God to rebuild it the way He wanted. It was the push I needed to truly let my heart become one with His and to respond to His leading. I still have no idea where His leading will take me, but I am confident that He will lead me on each and every step and this journey we take will be one of adventure, love, and of course at times, intense hardship that once again requires a serious look back into the heart of God. Thankfully, He continues to prove that He is good. And I will continue to have faith in His heart.
(Thoughts from The Sacred Romance. An excellent read!)
