“I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia.” Puddleglum spoke these words in C.S. Lewis’ novel The Silver Chair
Puddleglum, along with the others, had been captured and taken deeper and deeper into a cave system under the earth. Trapped in the silence and darkness for days and entranced by the villain, the darkness seemed more real than the light.
And honestly? It has for me too lately. Hard knock after hard knock has left my heart battered and bruised and not sure where the sunshine is — or even if I can get to it again. I don’t want to admit it, but questions sneak in. Does God really love me? Why doesn’t he do anything? Is this just my lot in life?
I’m still in the dark circumstances, and I haven’t gotten answers yet. God and I wrestle every morning. Yet his grace is also new every morning, and I set aside my emotions and look at the facts and am persuaded of his love.
God has never abandoned me. In fact, he has brought good out of hard things in my life before. I see his love in the story of my past and in the lives of those around me and in his Word. Do you see that thread of love in your own life, even if you can’t feel it right now?
So I’ve come to the same conclusion as Puddlelgum: I will believe even if I don’t perceive. I don’t know what God is doing. I don’t understand why he has allowed these circumstances. But I know who God is. I know his heart, and I will trust that “what was true in the light is still true in the dark” (to quote Rend Collective).
Will you do that with me? Will you cling to his love and choose to say, as Paul did, “I am persuaded [of his love]”?
Heavenly Father, thank you that nothing can separate me from your love. When all I can see is the darkness, remind me that you have not changed. Give me the power to cling to that love at all times.
Throughout this day: be encouraged by Rend Collective’s song True in the Light
Photo Credit: Tim McClure