“Then [Lucy’s] face lit up till, for a moment (but of course she didn’t know it), she looked almost as beautiful as that other Lucy in the picture, and she ran forward with a little cry of delight and with her arms stretched out. For what stood in the doorway was Aslan himself, the Lion, the highest of all High Kings. And he was solid and real and warm and he let her kiss him and bury herself in his shining mane.”
- The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader, C.S. Lewis

I really love C.S. Lewis’ imagery of Aslan, the Lion-Savior of The Chronicles Of Narnia. By showing us how Christ may have interacted with a world of talking animals, Lewis gives us a better picture of how He interacts with us in this world.

This passage out of The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader excites me, because that is exactly what happens when we see God.

Let me back up a second and give this quote some context. Lucy is in an enchanted tower, reading through a spell book in hopes of finding a spell that will make some invisible group of people visible once more. As she reads through this book, she encounters a spell that will make her beautiful. In fact, it was “An infallible spell to make beautiful her that uttereth it beyond the lot of mortals.” The magical properties of the spell book allowed Lucy to see what it would be like to be that beautiful. In fact, the vision was so enticing that Lucy said, “I will say the spell…I don’t care. I will.” Even though she had a strong feeling that she shouldn’t, she desired that beauty, a beauty that would alienate the people closest to her and destroy the intimate relationships she had with others.

Lucy managed to escape the temptation of saying that spell, and when she finally found the spell to make visible things that are invisible, Aslan appeared (because He was invisible).

Now, the interesting thing came from Lewis’ description, that for a moment, Lucy looked almost as beautiful as that other Lucy. This look was captured in that moment that Lucy saw Aslan. Seeing the King of kings made her beautiful – within her heart, and as a result, it overflowed to her physical appearance.

I was talking about this a little bit with one of my roommates the other night. God brings out the very best in all of us – our beauty, our strength, our abilities, our talents – because He gave them all to us first, and He delights to develop those things within us. In reflection of God’s character, we also bring out those things in others. Men are stronger for the women they love. Women do all they can to be beautiful for the men that they love. And so it is when we love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. When we see Him, our countenance reflects the beauty of God. It’s so exciting to find God’s fingerprints on everything, because it gives us hope and courage. This was a bit random, but I hope that this encourages you throughout this week!

Time for me to step out on the water
Time for me to just loosen my hold
And it’s time for me to leave here all that I hope for
Could You take me where I need to go

I am waiting for Your love
I am reaching for Your touch
Lost without You, God, reach down
I need You now, I need You now

====================================

God was reminding me this weekend about His provision and the nature of faith. Back in the days of wandering in the desert, the Israelites saw God in the form of a cloud pillar during the day, and a pillar of fire at night. God led the Israelites around in this fashion, always going in front of them to prepare the way.

I was reminded of this truth, as I reflected on the changing seasons of my life. When it was time for me to begin college, God prepared in advance the Baptist Student Union fellowship for me, that I would find a family of believers among those involved there, as well as challenging teaching that would spur my growth in knowledge of God. He prepared my heart in advance, having built into my life the principles of hard work, perseverance, faithfulness, and grounding in the Word of God so that I would not be led astray by empty philosophy. By the time I actually went to college, even though I didn’t feel ready at times, I really was ready.

The same thing happened when I graduated college and began transitioning into my post-collegiate life in medical school. While I was in college, God refined the foundation laid in my life by the faithfulness of my parents, and taught me passion and agape love in living like Christ. He gave me confidence in Him, and showed me that I must lead those who follow after me, just as I follow those who came before me. God led me to serve at Project Impact during the summer following graduation, where He distilled my essence and revealed to me all of these things that He has worked into my life. By the time I needed to start medical school, I realized that God had prepared my life in advance for this next season.

Despite all of these wonderful confirmations of His provision in my life, sometimes I still question the nature of God’s leading. In fact, as I was driving back to Norman this weekend from Tulsa, I received a strong impression to do something important. Instead of surrendering my pride and obeying, I hesitated. It made me realize that no matter how far God has taken me, I still need Him for every single moment. I’m so grateful that He goes before me, and that there is grace to carry me through it all!

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”
- Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)

Need You Now
Chris Tomlin and Jack Parker
© 2001 worshiptogether.com Songs

I’m a failure today
I think I have all the signs
I can’t believe I’m here again
Oh, why can’t I succeed?

But I turn to You and I pray
How could You love me anyway?
Nothing good comes from man
But You say, “Come and follow me…”
Oh…

You take all my worries
You take my fears
You take all my failures
You, You set me free
I’m free, I’m free

Today’s a new day
Walking in Your loving grace
You bring promises
Removing my weighing chains

So I turn to You and I pray
How could You love me anyway?
Nothing good comes from man
But You say, “Come and follow me…”
Oh…

You take all my worries
You take my fears
You take all my failures
You, You set me free
I’m free, I’m free

====================================

This song has always been really encouraging to me – it’s written by one of my good friends, Kristen. On her CD, Fulfilled, she explained how this song came about from a time when she came to understand that God loves us in spite of the many failures in our lives. In fact, He loves us because He cannot do anything else – anything less would violate His own nature.

This song spoke peace to my soul today, after I slopped through my anatomy tests. Med school has been a refining experience; I’m realizing that there’s so much I don’t know or understand, and every little bit of selfishness and resentment keeps being brought up to the surface. Today was definitely one of those days when my failures seemed to outweigh the successes in my life. But, as this song (and the correlating Scriptures) reminded me, it doesn’t matter whether I’ve failed every test this week or been the most insensitive jerk in the whole world. God is glorified when I am humbled before Him, and acknowledge that He alone can set me free from the prison of failure that can weigh my heart down.

“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
- Romans 5:8 (NIV)

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection of the dead.”
- Philippians 3:7-11 (NIV)

“Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
For I will yet praise Him,
My Savior and my God.”
- Psalm 42:11 (NIV)

Free
Kristen Davison
© 2005 Kristen Davison

From the top of the world I will sing
Of the joy that flows from my glorious King
And in my heart oh I can see
Your loving arms coming down to me

By Your blood that washed over me
And by Your grace that came down to kiss me
You have cleaned my heart and my soul
For Your glory You’ve made me
You’ve made me beautiful

Giver of Grace, Filler of Souls,
Anointed One bringing healing upon us
Giver of Grace, Filler of Souls,
Anointed One coming soon again

====================================

According to John and Stasi Eldredge’s book, Captivating, a woman goes through life asking the question, “Am I beautiful?” A woman who knows she is beautiful, both inside, and out, radiates that beauty – she can’t hide it, no more than darkness can extinguish light. And all of us have been created beautiful – we were fashioned in the very likeness of God, in character and in spirit and in beauty – so that when we know from the very depths of our hearts that we are beautiful, we will declare it at the top of our lungs, praising God for His grace. Of course, sin has marred the original beauty and spirit that God first made in us, but even that has been made new by the blood of Jesus Christ.

I really like this somewhat obscure song, written by one of the members of the band MercyMe. It reminds me that as much joy as I often feel about the salvation and grace I find in God, it actually all flows from Him first. In fact, all of this came from Him first. I cannot truly initiate anything – because the Initiator has gone before me and set things into motion. That’s a comforting thought for someone who hates to make decisions and spends far too long analyzing situations.

Well, I’d better get back to studying. Later!

Beautiful
Nathan Cochran
© 1999 Simpleville Music (Admin. by Fun Attic Music)

“Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord. There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.”
- Proverbs 23:17-18 (NIV)

It’s very easy for me to look around and think that other people have it all together. It’s super easy to think that if I just compromised a little bit here or did the “right thing,” I’d be able to get better grades, or get more money, or have closer friends, or whatever. But the truth is, I’ve been blessed beyond I deserve. Because I was once in darkness, and have been brought into His marvelous light, I can’t and shouldn’t complain that my life stinks. In fact, my life is fantastic. Father’s provided me with a place to live, food to eat, a car to drive, and money to spend and invest. I’m in med school, doing what I’ve wanted to do since I was in 3rd grade; I’m living with 3 awesome and fun guys; I have tons of friends around me, I have close friends with whom I can confide everything. I’m very blessed.

But despite all of the blessings, it’s in my flesh to look at what people around me have. Look at their higher grades. Look at their copious amounts of free time. Look at their happy lives. And instead of rejoicing in their blessings, seeds of envy brew in my heart. It’s quite frustrating, really, since I want to walk in the Spirit at all times.

But this passage is so encouraging to me. It reminds me that I don’t have to worry about what I need or lack. A future hope is laid out before me – instead of dwelling on what I want or desire, I can be zealous for God’s honor. By remaining focused on Him, I will receive far greater blessings than I would find doing things on my own. And those blessings are found in the only hope that we have in Jesus Christ.

If fear leads to anger and anger leads to hate and hate leads to suffering, then hope leads to faith and faith leads to love and love leads to intimacy. So instead of fearing the worst about every situation, I need to hope the best, because in me and in this world is a God who does all things for good (Romans 8:28). And it’s in that promise of future hope that I have confidence that my God will meet my needs and desires. May He rule in my heart always!