Walking WITH Our Lion
So, here are some things to remember about our walk as believers:
We NEVER walk alone!
Jesus has gone before us, so He knows the terrain and the enemies of the terrain we travel!
The victory has already been won ahead of our arrival!
All that sounds good. Right? Right! Right? Well, yes and no.
We never walk alone.
It's wonderful that the Lord promises that He will never leave us or forsake us and that He is NEVER very far from us. Even better, His Spirit abides in us. Even better than that, we have continuous access to Abba God. No, we will never walk alone, but the truth is, sometimes we feel like we are walking alone. Sometimes, His presence is hidden from us. Sometimes, all we have is faith to assure us that He is with us. In times like those, it becomes easy to walk our own path, go our own way. Even when we feel His presence, sometimes He withholds information. We want to know before we take the next step, what we will face on the journey. Or, we want to replay things from our past and do what we did before. We want a map, but in the words of Lisa Bevere, "God wants to weave some mystery into our lives, He wants to create a journey with us, not re-create an old journey; He wants to write a story with us." Walking with our Lion is an act of faith! It means walking a path even when we don't know where it will lead, even if no one else, but Him, is on that path with us, and even when we don't know what it will cost us to follow Him.
Jesus has gone before us, so He knows the terrain and the terrain and the enemies of the terrain we travel.
Wait a minute. Terrain? Enemies? What, are we hiking through a wilderness or going through life with our King? The answer to both questions is Yes! Going through life with our King is like going through a wilderness. And, there are things in life, in the wilderness, that seek to steal from us, kill and destroy us. One would think, since Jesus has gone before us, that He would know how to avoid the enemies or the pitfalls of the terrain. I mean, didn't He know, when He led the children of Israel from Egypt, that they would get trapped between the Red Sea and an army? Sure He did, but walking with our Lion means we follow Him, no matter what. Matthew 16:24-25 (MSG) says, "Then Jesus went to work on His disciples. 'Anyone who intends to come with Me has to let Me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow Me and I'll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way to finding yourself, your true self.'" I was watching a silly movie called Galaxy Quest. In that movie, there is a scene where the crew is on a space ship trying to outrun their chief nemesis. The pilot guides the ship into an asteroid field. He is trying, unsuccessfully, to outrun the enemy and avoid the asteroids at the same time. Every few seconds, they hit an asteroid and there is an explosion. Finally, someone in the ship yells, "can you miss at least one of those things?!" Sometimes, that is how it feels to walk with Jesus. He knows where the trouble spots are, but instead of guiding us away from them, it appears as if we are set on a path to meet up with each and every one of them. We need faith to traverse the wilderness that is our life!
The victory has already been won ahead of our arrival.
We have the victory! We win! Our life should be a celebration, so celebrate. Celebrate, even as you take up your cross, daily, to follow Him. Celebrate, even as you suffer the tests and trials of life. Celebrate, even as you lay down your will for His burdens. Celebrate, even as you die to your flesh. I don't mean to paint a bleak picture. Life is also joy and peace and love. We rest in intimacy with Him. We walk in the beauty of holiness. We are seated in heavenly places with Him. We are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. We have the very Spirit of God abiding in us as our comfort and hope. Celebrate!
In one of the Narnia books, Aslan says to Lucy, "now you are a lioness and now all of Narnia will be renewed." Why did he say that to her? Because she apologized for being afraid to follow him when it meant that she would have to do it alone (see outline below for a more complete picture), and she told him that she was now ready to follow, no matter what. She knew that following him meant that she may have to go alone, and that her companions may not believe that she actually saw / heard from him. Walking with her lion would take faith and sacrifice. She was to tell her companions what she saw / heard and then follow Aslan, alone if necessary.
Our walk with Jesus requires the same faith, and when we walk in that faith, lives are changed (now all of Narnia will be renewed)!
“Lucy,” [Aslan] said... “You have work in hand, and much time has been lost today.”
“Yes, wasn’t it a shame?” said Lucy. “I saw you all right. They wouldn’t believe me. They’re all so—”
From somewhere deep inside Aslan’s body there came the faintest suggestion of a growl.
“I’m sorry,” said Lucy, who understood some of his moods. “I didn’t mean to start slanging the others. But it wasn’t my fault anyway, was it?”
The Lion looked straight into her eyes.
“Oh, Aslan,” said Lucy. “You don’t mean it was? How could I —I couldn’t have left the others and come up to you alone, how could I? Don’t look at me like that. . . oh well, I suppose I could, Yes, and it wouldn’t have been alone, I know, not if I was with you. But what would have been the good?”
Aslan said nothing.
“You mean,” said Lucy rather faintly, “that it would have turned out all right—somehow? But how? Please, Aslan! Am I not to know?”
“To know what would have happened, child?” said Aslan. “No. Nobody is ever told that.”
“Oh dear,” said Lucy.
“But anyone can find out what will happen,” said Aslan. “If you go back to the others now, and wake them up; and tell them you have seen me again; and that you must all get up at once and follow me—what will happen? There is only one way of finding out.”
“Do you mean that is what you want me to do?” gasped Lucy.
“Yes, little one,” said Aslan.
“Will the others see you too?” asked Lucy.
“Certainly not at first” said Aslan. “Later on, it depends.” “But they won’t believe me!” said Lucy.
“It doesn’t matter,” said Aslan.
“Oh dear, oh dear,” said Lucy. “And I was so pleased at finding you again. And I thought you’d let me stay. And I thought you’d come roaring in and frighten all the enemies away—like last time. And now everything is going to be horrid.”
“It is hard for you, little one,” said Aslan. “But things never happen the same way twice. It has been hard for us all in Narnia before now.”
Lucy buried her head in his mane to hide from his face, But there must have been magic in his mane. She could feel lion- strength going into her. Quite suddenly she sat up.
“I’m sorry, Aslan,” she said. “I’m ready now.”
“Now you are a lioness,” said Aslan. “And now all Narnia will be renewed.”