Eustace and me

My favorite passage from one of my very favorite books comes from C.S. Lewis's "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader." In it, Eustace, who began the journey as a self-consumed boy has stumbled upon a hidden treasure and transformed into a dragon. He has tried several times to rid himself of the awful dragon skin, but it comes back thicker and stronger each time. Then, Eustace has an encounter with Aslan that changes his attitude for the remainder of the book:


"Well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off -- just as I thought I'd done it myself the other three times, only they hadn't hurt -- and there it was lying on the grass: only ever so much thicker, and darker, and more knobbly-looking than the others had been. And there was I as smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than I had been. There he caught hold of me -- I didn't like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I'd no skin on -- and threw me into the water. It smarted like anything but only for a moment. After that it became perfectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing I found that all the pain had gone from my arm. And then I saw why. I'd turned into a boy again. You'd think me simply phony if I told you how I felt about my own arms. I know they're no muscle and are pretty mouldy compared with Caspian's, but I was so glad to see them.
"After a bit the lion took me out and dressed me . . . in new clothes -- the same I've got on now, as a matter of fact. And then suddenly I was back here." [116-117]

Isn't that just beautiful? I can't tell you how many times i have felt like i am in Eustace's shoes. There I am itchy and squirming and attempting with all my might to rid by self of bad habits, bad attitudes, bad influences---and to no avail. And yet there God is, ready to do away with all of those things forever, ready to put in their place new and beautiful things. But I'm afraid- afraid that it will hurt, afraid that nothing will change, afraid that I'm stuck this way.

But- God loves us enough to never leave us stuck this way. He's a God on the move. He's constantly moving, molding, teaching, shaping, and redeeming us for His glory.

Recently, life has left me feeling a bit like Eustace. The Lord has dug into my life with his mighty hand and removed some things that I thought I really needed. I'm feeling "tender" as Eustace says, and the water "smarts like anything." But the  good news is- I know what comes next. I've been here before. Next comes the refreshing, invigorating, living water. It comes all over me, seeping into every compartment of my life. I love that. I live for that. I trust the Lord in times like these knowing that in His perfect love, he never takes away what he doesn't intend to replace with something far more valuable.

So I ask for your prayers during this time- simply pray that I would trust and wait and be watchful. Pray that my eyes would be opened, and ready in time, to discover the next step that the Lord has for me.

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

—Isaiah 26:3-4