Of all C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, The Silver Chair, is my favorite. At one point in the Silver Chair the characters are deciding whether or not to obey Aslan. When Puddleglum suggests that they should obey Aslan, a girl named Jill responds, “Do you mean you think everything will come right if we do [obey Aslan].”
Puddleglum responds, “I don’t know about that. You see Aslan didn’t tell [us] what would happen. He only told us what to do. . . it may be the death of us. . . but that doesn’t let us off from obeying Aslan.”
Lewis’ point was that Christians should obey God even when it looks as though obeying him will make our lives more difficult. We must trust God’s word, rather than how we think things will turn out.
The Bible is full of examples of men and women when they didn’t know how it would turn out. Daniel didn’t know that the lions wouldn’t eat him when he was ordered not to pray. David didn’t know for sure if he could win against Goliath. Shadrach, Meschach and Abendigo didn’t know that they would be spared death in the fiery furnace. They courageously told the king:
“O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.4 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” (Daniel 3:15-18)They followed God’s word, even when it required great risk.
If there is an area in your life where you know that obedience is needed, then stop worrying about how things will turn out and obey God. Entrust yourself to the sovereign God of the universe.
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