Thoughts from A Horse and His Boy--CS Lewis

I've recently been reading the book A Horse and His Boy by c.s.Lewis about a boy who was raised by a man who turns out not to be his real father and tried to sell him into slavery. The protagonist named Shasta is really a prince but has no clue until a series of miraculous events guides him into his true destiny. What stood out to me the most is the ways the author makes it obvious that Shasta is off course in this journey. He hears the roar of the lions and this fear of being destroyed causes him or his horse, (actually a talking horse) to bolt with fear back into the path that is destined for success.

Some well intentioned people would say that God causes sickness or disaster to befall a Christian to get them to get back in right relationship with Him so they will feel bad enough to repent and become righteous. I would say rather that sin itself is what causes the pain that is a signal to the Christian that something needs to be adjusted so we can get back on the path that God has called us. God did not send the nervous breakdown but the nervous breakdown was a result of not dwelling in the shadow of the Almighty. We might visit that presence of God but we're off to do our own thing and before we know it we're out of whack, unbalanced and no longer living within the boundaries or safety zone that God has made known to us in His Word.

Let's take for example the commandment, Thou shall keep the Sabbath Day holy. I'm not going to argue if the sabbath is Saturday or Sunday for New Testament believers. I will argue, however that many Christians are not observing a day of rest. Jesus came that we could enter into God's rest but many of us run around doing all kinds of good and call it "Our Ministry" but neglect to go off and really fellowship and rest on a regular basis. Well, if I don't do it then it won't get done... But if you would trust that God will do it through you, you would obey this commandment and take sabbath. In this quiet God may tell you how to work smarter and not harder and longer and your work would not be so stressful and your burden would be light.

So what are some of the lions roaring at you to encourage you to get back in line with your destiny? Maybe your are not sleeping and this sleep deprivation is going to "roar" at you with symptoms of migraines or just plain fatigue. Are you depressed. I know some are truely struggling with a chemical imbalance that needs to be treated in order to function normally but what got you to that place of imbalance? What lion is roaring at you when you lay awake on your bed night after night from chronic insomnia. Occasional restlessness might be the prompting of the Holy Spirit to pray for someone or press through a deep spiritual insight but night after night of no sleep and then day after day of feeling so fatigued that you are a danger to yourself and others is a lion roaring at you to get back on the right path.