The roller-coaster ride of life (3)
‘He has made everything appropriate in its time…’ Ecclesiastes 3:11 NAS
CS Lewis (the author of The Chronicles of Narnia) also wrote a book imagining what it’s like to be a devil who wants to stop a Christian loving God. In The Screwtape Letters, he writes this: ‘Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never in greater danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending to do our Enemy’s will, looks around upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys!’ The point CS Lewis is making is that the devil loses it when we choose to follow God no matter what. When nothing seems to make sense, when it feels like God hasn’t said ‘hello’ in a while, when everything else screams at us to throw off this whole silly God-nonsense, but still we choose to go on trusting… that’s the kind of faith, the devil can’t chip away. That’s the kind of faith proven gold in the eyes of God.
So, you mean, when it feels like everything has gone dark, I’m actually proving my faith is gold? EXACTLY. Textbook example: Jesus. Where does Jesus’ ministry begin: in front of a huge cheering crowd? Far from it. It begins in the dark, dry place of the desert. Do you feel a bit stuck out in the desert? Perhaps, that’s where you’re supposed to be.
SoulFood: Jer 36:27-40:16, Luke 4:31-44, Ps 102:12-17, Pr 15:3
