The Horse and His Boy

Always More

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“When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’? No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not.10 In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty’” (Luke 17:7-10, NLT).

That’s the secret to obedience and serving. There’s always more. You never get to the place where you’re done. It seems like one task leads to another, usually harder. But you find that if you remain faithful and available, God will equip you and empower you to fulfill the duty and the calling.

We forget sometimes that half the joy is in the journey. It’s not so much finishing what God calls us to do that energizes us and motivates us — we’re never really finished until God calls each of us home — but the process where we find we can do more than we thought and we find that God is bigger and stronger than we thought.

Obedience doesn’t lead to joy. For the one who serves not out of obligation but out of the overflow of God’s love in his or her heart, obedience is joy. We realize that serving God isn’t a “have to” as much as it is a “get to.” We get to participate in what God is doing, and we know that what God does always succeeds and has a good outcome. We can rest assured that our labors for God are never in vain.

Even the small stuff matters to God. Me showing up to serve in the parking lot at my church or someone else serving in the nursery is just as vital in the eyes of God as the pastor preaching the sermon or the worship leader calling us to worship. Every single act of obedience is a win for the kingdom and a blessing not only for the receivers but also for the person who obeys.

The harder the task, the more of God you get to do the job. The more your faith grows when you see it through. The more you want to serve God no matter what it looks like or how dirty you get. The more other people see it and want to know about this God that is worth our obedience.

Telling Stories

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“Child,’ said the Lion, ‘I am telling you your story, not hers. No one is told any story but their own” (C.S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy).

I’m beginning to understand that we all have different stories. We also have different seasons and struggles. I am in the middle of a career transition. I overheard where someone else has a parent dealing with a cancer diagnosis. Yet someone else I know has struggled within the past year with mental health issues.

Each story is different. Each struggle is unique. It’s no good for me to compare my story with someone else’s and to either think that mine doesn’t matter because it’s not a potentially terminal diagnosis or that I have it way worse because someone else might have an ingrown toenail.

The Bible doesn’t say God never gives us more than we can handle. Often, it’s way beyond our capacity to bear so that we are forced to lean in on the Lord for daily strength. He does give us grace equal to the struggle. He does promise to be with us in each season.

In each story, the testimony is that God is able. I am in as much need of God’s continual grace and strength as anyone else alive right now on this planet. My need is no more or less than theirs. And my God is equally up to the task.

That’s the beauty of intercessory prayer. I enter into your story and you enter into mine. We share each others burdens and magnify the name of Jesus equally. Sometimes, we can speak words when the other has none or believe for the other when they can’t find the faith at the moment.

The best part is that God is always the hero of our stories and we can rest assured that in every case we know that God works all things together for good and for a happy ending.

Small Comforts

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Tonight, I went for a walk around historic downtown Franklin. I ran into a friendly cat who let me pet him (or possibly her) and even purred. It reminded me of a scene from The Horse and His Boy.

Shasta had escaped from Tashbaan and is waiting for the others near the ancient tombs that are reputedly haunted. He is alone and afraid until he notices a large cat who brings him comfort. The cat, as it turns out, is Aslan in one of his many incarnations. And for you who are not familiar with Narnia, Aslan is a type of Christ.

Also, I remembered the scene from The Voyage of the Dawn Trailer where the ship is in the midst of the island of darkness with little hope of ever getting out. Lucy whispers a prayer and Aslan again shows up, this time in the form of an albatross who says in a voice that only Lucy can hear, “Courage, dear heart.”

Sometimes, the dark seems overwhelming. Sometimes, hope seems hard to find. It seems that nothing will ever change and it is futile to go on hoping for anything better or different.

That’s when God shows up. Often it’s not in a flashy, parting the Red Sea kind of way. It’s not fire coming down from heaven or a burning bush. Often, it is a very small voice that we can only hear when we are still and silent.

Often, God shows up in small ways. A kind word or text at just the right moment. A smile from a stranger. A beautiful sunset at the end of a hard day.

It can look a thousand different ways, but if you and I can look not just with our physical eyes, but with the eyes of faith, we can find these little reminders that God has not forgotten or forsaken us.