Winter weather forecasts had me second guessing my planned trip to the Northwestern part of Pennsylvania. With prayers, I began my journey. As the wheels of my vehicle hummed along the road the speakers filled my space with a story from the Chronicles of Narnia. The Horse and His Boy was the choice of the day. The introduction of the story shared of a journey that we all are created for. As I listened one scene stuck with me throughout the rest of my travels.
Shasta, an orphan boy, who has had many misadventures is traveling with Bree, a talking horse, to Narnia and the North. His journey was long, and instance after instance saw him having to overcome situations that were not at all easy or comfortable.
Near the end of the story we find Shasta slowly traveling through a wood with the winds howling and the air becoming colder and colder. As he journeys in the night his troubles overwhelm him and he begins to talk aloud saying, “I must be the most unluckiest boy in all the world.”
A voice is heard in the midst of the dark and cold. The voice says, “Tell me your troubles.” Words begin to tumble out of Shasta as he again recounts his unfortunate circumstances. Foremost in his bemoaning was the fact that he had faced four or five lions. If you are at all familiar with the Narnia series you might have guessed that the voice was Aslan. When Shasta finishes telling all his woes, Aslan begins to speak. He tells Shasta that he has been there with him when facing all his troubles. Aslan shared with Shasta that he was the lion that had caused him to meet up with Arivas and he was the cat who had comforted him at the tombs. Aslan was also the lion that had put fear in the horses to make them run faster than they thought possible and he was the lion that kept him safe from the jackals at night.
In the morning, Shasta found himself over the mountain, out of the darkness and seeing the land he had been traveling to. With a satisfied smile, Shasta declares that he must have made it over the mountain in the night without realizing. Then with a start he recognizes that it wasn’t his strength that had brought him over the mountains and through the darkness. Shasta then declares “Why it wasn’t me at all, it was Him.
It was this part of the story that struck a chord within my heart. It is in the midst of our troubles that God comes alongside of us and whispers, “Pour out your heart” to me. (Psalm 62:8) As we release our troubles to Him, we find that God can take our problems and turn them for good in our lives. He can take the troubles and overwhelming circumstances and use them to draw us closer to Him. We don’t have to dwell on our problems and feel like we are ‘the most unluckiest person in the world’ because our God is walking with us and using all of our circumstances to get us to our destination.
Throughout my trip, I faced winter weather, blowing snow, wind gusts and heavy traffic. Yet the heavy snow squalls came when I began to get sleepy, which brought me alert. Winter weather helped me to be more vigilant and the heavy traffic brought attentiveness. It was Him that brought me home safe from my journey.
It is God that walks by our side throughout our lives. God will continue to take the situations in our life and use them for our good and His glory, as we trust our life into His hands. When life overwhelms and problems flood your soul, pour out your heart to Him. He is the one that can take these same situations and bring about a closer walk and knowledge of Himself as we journey towards our heavenly home.
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