The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis is an awesome series, mainly because Lewis is such an awesome author with an incredible testimony. In The Horse and His Boy, Shasta is walking in darkness and can hear the breathing of something right behind him. This turns out to be a lion, Aslan, and when Shasta learns that it was a lion he starts freaking out. The Voice speaks to him and tells Shasta that all of the lions he had been seeing were just him. Shasta gets mad at Aslan for all the crap he had to go through with him around and blamed him as the cause of it. Aslan then goes on to explain how it was because of him and his presence that Shasta was even alive still. It’s an awesome picture if you think about it. Shasta is walking in darkness and all he can feel/hear is the breathing of this lion on him. This same lion is there protecting and watching over him, doing things that Shasta can’t comprehend at the time. This has to be one of the best pictures of God that I’ve read.
Everybody has their own story with their own struggles, fears, dreams, hopes, and failures. What if we had this image of God, standing right beside us, breathing down our necks saying, “Tell me your sorrows.” One of the many reasons why God is awesome is because He’s a Counselor. If you told some of your friends they need a counselor, they might get offended. (I do not recommend doing so) I’m not afraid to admit that I need this Counselor though. Life is hard sometimes and it sucks. We hold on to the purpose of our Christian life which is that our hearts can be restored and set free. Restoring our hearts if far from easy though and it will be a process, a process with much counseling needed.
We’re told to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart…” (Proverbs 3:5) but we find that one of the hardest things to do. I know I don’t trust other people easily, not with important stuff anyways. It seems like it’s second nature to worry about things. And loving others deeply, how often does that happen? We get angry at, resentful, or indifferent to the people we once loved. We can overcome these things with our new, good heart though. “For it is with your heart that you believe…” Romans 10:10 Our deepest convictions, the ones that truly shape our lives, come from our hearts.
God wants to walk beside us through our deepest hurts. I personally have had an incredibly easy and blessed childhood but I know many Christians who have had otherwise and they still feel pain from that. The pain from their childhood may still be there under the surface and you know what? We keep blaming ourselves for the mistakes from our past. It’s a huge weight that we’ll never be truly able to let go of unless we give it up to God. It wasn’t entirely our fault in the first place, the Enemy is set against us. He was hell-bent on keeping you from the Truth and now that you know the Truth he wants to convince you that you are no good because of your past. He wants to tell you that you are no good and it is all your fault. Even in a crappy situation like that, we have our Counselor standing beside us, guiding us, and whispering, “You are good because I have made you good. This is not your fault.”
Peter was known as one of Jesus’ closest friends. He had special experiences with Him all throughout the Bible. I can only imagine how bad he felt after denying Christ 3 times. It must have been devastating for Peter. When Jesus and Peter are reunited after the Resurrection, Jesus asks Peter 3 times if he loves Him. Peter is hurt by the questions, but Jesus makes His point. If Jesus left the matter unaddressed then Peter would have felt doubt or shame every time he preached the Gospel or a nagging guilt every time he prayed. It would have been easier to put the whole situation behind him. Denial is a form of coping for many Christians, but not with Jesus. He wants our lives to be full of truth, and to get it to that point he’s got to take us into our inmost being. The things that hurt us most in life are often invitations to go into this place with God and hear what He has to say. This is another way of not just knowing, but experiencing that your heart is good and matters to God. Whenever a situation brings you to your knees and you think it’s all your fault, ask God to show you that you’re good.
God is not only the Counselor. He puts people in our lives to help counsel us as well. I used to think for the longest time that nobody really cared to hear about my problems because everybody has them. I would share mundane things, but not the real me with people because frankly it’s a bit unnerving to fully expose yourself. That’s all changed though. It’s not emotionally healthy to keep everything bottled up inside and God has put people in our lives to help counsel us as well. That might be a close friend or an adult who you admire or somebody else for all I know. In every great story, the hero or heroine had someone older or wiser they could turn to though. Neo had Morpheus, Dorothy had the Wizard, Frodo had Gandalf, and Harry had Dumbledore. God did not create us to face life alone. He is there and I bet someone else in your life would be willing to fight right along-side you as well.
Maybe the world has been wrong about you or you have believed the lie that you are no good. You matter to God deeply and you are good! You are more than likely going to screw up at some point, but God is there counseling and guiding us through life. We just have to continue fighting the lies the Enemy tries to put in front of us and listen to Truth. My prayer is that you rely on God for counseling because there is no one who is a greater comfort. I seriously wouldn’t be able to make it through a day without it. If you have anything you would like me to pray for just let me know.
In Love,
Bill Bouillon
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