In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe C.S. Lewis wrote: Aslan is a lion- the Lion, the great Lion.” “Ooh,” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion”…” Safe?” said Mr. Beaver …” Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
Why do we expect God to be safe? Why do we expect life to be safe? Why do we expect our dreams, interpersonal encounters, and best-laid plans to be safe? When we were younger we didn’t ask this question. We let our soul ask its own questions: where is the romance, what is my irreplaceable role, do I have a beauty all my own to unveil??? None of these questions are safe. Not one. They have led us into our deepest wounds. But they are where our greatest joys live too.
What is safety? Something that is safe has been denied the chance to do harm. But if you deny even the possibility of bad then can you really trust the good either? You live in a middle ground, frequently played on by Hollywood movies like the Matrix, the Truman Show, and (here’s a stretch) Brigadoon. When God created people he created them with free will so that their choice to love Him would be genuine. Not forced. Not safe. Bad things followed and a rescue was initiated. That’s the crazy love story we live in today. A very unsafe space of radical love, danger, tough choices, uncertainty, testimony, opposition, conquests and so much more.
How are you living your life? Are you trying your hardest to stay safe or are you trusting in a God who has nothing but good for you? Yes, there will be hard things but they will transform you in ways He wants you to grow if you turn to Him. Don’t place safety over the goodness of God’s character. Trust the questions of your heart to a God who knows you best and loves you most.
Grow Anyway 