Book Report

This weekend I read The Horse and His Boy, the third book in the CS Lewis Chronicles of Narnia series.  I read it before, but I didn't remember all the details.  If you never read it...

1. You should.

2. You should stop reading this post now because I am about to totally ruin the plot for you.

No, seriously, there is something really special about reading it the first time and this is your final warning to stop reading this post........

Okay, if you are still with me, I will assume you have read the book and know the characters.  I LOVE how all these things happen to Shasta and Aravis during their journey that seem really hard to them, and then Aslan later explains the purpose of these trials.  He is really helping them and saving them from what could be great tragedies.  Wow!  How often do we not get what we want and think that God could not possibly know what is best.  We wish we were in control.  Then, how often we later see that His timing is perfect, His plan is perfect, and His love is perfect.

I also love that when Shasta asks why Aslan scratched Aravis, Aslan tells him that is not part of his story.  I couldn't think of one way her injury could be helpful or necessary in their situation. Later, when Aslan explains this to Aravis he says, "The scratches on your back, tear for tear, throb for throb, blood for blood, were equal to the stripes laid on the back of your stepmother's slave because of the drugged sleep you cast upon her.  You needed to know what it felt like."  How great that we have a God that loves us enough to discipline us and mold us closer to His image.

When I feel like I am in a season of life that does not make sense to me, when I worry about the future, when I feel like a trial is too hard to bear, I remember this story.  I remember that God sees the grand scheme.  There is a happy ending because our God is victorious!!!  He has already won.  I can rest in the knowledge that He is in control, and that means I don't have to be.  Thank you Lord.