He isn’t Safe…but he is Good

I am sure that at some point in a Christian’s life they have thought to themselves,

“Thank God for C.S. Lewis…”

If you haven’t read good ol’ C.S., I couldn’t recommend him more highly. One promise I need to rinse and repeat throughout my life is the descriptions of Aslan in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe:

“Of course, he isn’t safe, but he is good…he’s not a tame lion.”

Nothing is sugar-coated here. No kumbaya Jesus.

But a relentless and reckless savior. One who is utterly unconcerned with his own safety but completely fixated on capturing your love and attention.

But how often is this strong and powerful God our true perception?

How often do we treat him like a mouse instead of the mighty lion?

How often do we doubt his goodness?

So, I would like to put a disclaimer on this blog. This is not a topic I have fully grasped but it was time for my scribbles to see the light of day with all its endless layers.

Layer 1:                                                                                                                

Ask, seek, knock…but don’t cross the line.

Asking things of God, particularly deep desires can be the most difficult of endeavors.  It can look like the most captivating of roses accompanied by a thick stalk of thorns.

Longing to allow my senses to be overtaken with its beauty, but hindered by the risks.

For me, I often feel the line between the finite and infinite that must never be crossed. Conversations resemble heartfelt pleas followed by a fear-filled, “if it’s your will…”

I forget I’m his child.

 

Layer 2:

Ask, seek, knock…but don’t disappoint me.

Perhaps you trusted something in God’s hands and were left with disappointed hopes. Now you wrestle with the thought that he may mishandle your desires again.

If he is really trustworthy.

Layer 3:

Ask, seek, knock…leave a message at the beep.

Maybe your lack of inquiry stems from a lack of answers. You’ve prayed for a relationship to be redeemed, for a loved one to come to faith, but silence and unchanged circumstances have convinced you he will never answer.

We often forget that our God is by no means small and can’t stay silent forever. He has no desire for you to stay silent, but rather live out your right to ask of him as his child. To live like Lucy Pevensie.

Lucy delighted in Aslan, but she knew disappointment and heartbreak when life took a turn for the unfathomable.

Aslan’s death.

But he met her heartbreak with new life. Aslan’s ways were not what Lucy expected but they bridged any gap between them. Lucy never felt burdened to ask of him, she knew without a shadow of a doubt that Aslan deeply delighted in time with her.

When we feel the tug of our unworthiness; when we feel disappointed or ignored by God, it makes his invitation to “ask, seek, knock,” sound like empty words.

He doesn’t say when, how, or what will be found behind this door. God’s promises rarely do. But his promises are often answered with who.

“How much more will your heavenly father give to those who love him?”(Luke 11:13)

He gave himself to us.

He gave everything.

Recklessly…utterly unconcerned with his own safety but completely fixated on capturing your love and attention.

Giving is something Christ delights in because you are someone he delights in. Therefore, you can have no fear in entering his courts, of giving him both your dreams and disappointments. It is the soil for new life.

He isn’t safe…but he is good.

 

Song List:

My Delight – Will Reagan

Shepherd of My Soul – Rivers and Robots

Honey – Kings Choir

Keep Me a Child – Kings Choir

Psalm 91 – Johnathan Ogden

Check them out on the Real and True Playlist on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/user/128815512/playlist/3YfqgeMjEUj7ZB8ydKd5qL