All the Things That Can Happen - Most Times Won’t
June 7th, 2007 at 9:24 am by Dee O'Neil Andrews
C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis is one of my most favorite authors. ("Most" favorite, Dee Ann? What's with this "most" favorite?!)
Anyway . . . I really like this quote and would like to comment on it in a minute below.
I have been an avid Lewis devotee for many, many years reading just about all of his work, except for - and many of you will cringe - his Chronicles of Narnia books. I could not, for the life of me, get through Narnia. I tried several times, beginning when some house guests kindly bought me the set as a gift for keeping them for three or four days while they were on a summer VBS "mission" trip to Picayune, Mississippi - the deep south.
And my three kids all devoured Narnia, too, and told me all about the entire adventure and it's deeper meanings, etc. But I had to stick with Lewis's non-fantasy and more theological work, which was all excellent, of course.
The first Lewis book I read was Screwtape Letters, which I suppose you could also call a fantasy on a stretch, but it was fascinating, as well as funny in a self-deprecating kind of way. It really hit home, which all good books do in one way or another, I think.
I've read countless biographies of Lewis and some magnificent picture books about his homeland countryside that covered the various areas where he lived around Ireland, Scotland and England, including his final home at The Kilns. I read book after book about his wonderful romance and finding love when many think it's lost to them forever and I read his book that he wrote after his wife of a short number of years, American poet Joy Gresham, died of cancer, "A Grief Observed."
And, yes, I've seen the movie Shadowlands with Sir Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger. More than once. (We also went to see "The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe," which I loved.)
So, what are my thoughts on his quote above? Paul tells us in I Cor. 10:13 that no temptation "has seized us" except what is common to man and that God is faithful to not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear. Not only that, He says that when we are tempted, He will "provide a way out" so that we may stand up under it.
But, you say - that is not the same thought that C. S. Lewis is discussing. I think it is in many ways. One reason I say that is because sometimes I take things to an excess, how about you? For me one of the ways that has shown up of late has been in excessive worry over getting this house built and finished so that we can get moved in and start enjoying.
I have not completely kept my cool, I must say. I've been weaker than I should have been and not dependent enough on God to help see me through.
There are other ways I stumble into excessiveness, which I won't go into right here, but I think you understand from your own life what I'm saying. Whatever your "excess" problem is is a burden to you and you fight it diligently, or not so diligently, as the case may be.
Anyway - when I worry about the 100 and 1 things that can go wrong, I'm in trouble. Because God doesn't promise to give me the strength to deal with all of those imaginary problems I build up in my mind. Just the ones that actually come to pass. And that is enough.
So I need to be more conscious of my tendencies to worry excessively and turn them over to God, instead. It's not easy for me to do, even though He says he provides a way out. Always.
I've not always listened or heeded what He was trying His best to tell me at certain times in my life, way more often than I'd like to admit. In fact - I am nothing without Him. Rubbish in a heap.
So my thoughts for today are to listen to C. S. Lewis's thoughts and to God's thoughts that He has shared with us in scripture through the writing of His word through the apostles and Biblical writers.
I hope you'll think about these things and join me in contemplating just how good and gracious God is to be with us, no matter what. Even in all of our foolishness and temptations when we are the most weak.
Thanks for dropping by and - cheers & blessings to you all today! Dee
Yep—I know you are talking to me!
Peace
Neva
ME to! taking to that is!
Forgot to say Morning Dee!
So GOOD MORNING!!!!!!!!!!
yep, today has enough trouble of its own, that’s for sure.
I love lewis, too.
screwtape is one of my favs. do you think it sent a shiver down Satan’s spine if/when he read that?? to me it seems so spot on how spiritual warfare works
Great quote. It’s something to remember, that’s for sure. Only one thing that you worry about can happen (at a time). If you’re like me, though, the thing that you’ve never considered becomes the thing that happens.
I think what Lewis valued—because you see it over and over again in his writing and (I’m not cringing and maybe I shouldn’t say this, but I will anyway ;-)) especially in the Narnia books—what he valued was poise under pressure. And it’s not a lesson that’s learned all at once. My favorite scene in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is when you can see, from Lucy’s vantage point below, the characters of Aslan and Edmund, on the hill, silhouetted against the sky, standing face-to-face. You can’t hear what is being said between them; but their aspect seems to give powerful hints of Edmund’s repentance and Aslan’s forgiveness.
In a certain sense, I think awakening from the sleep of excessive worry is like that, a cycle of repentance and forgiveness. As the old King James puts it, “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.â€
Later, when the witch lays claim to Edmund because of his his betrayal of his brother and sisters, the book tells us that Edmund stood quietly and, though he heard the witch’s accusations, he concentrated on only one thing: Aslan himself. This is a fictional picture of poise under pressure.
Unfortunately, in real stories concerning real people, poise under pressure is not usually a lesson learned all at once. And, once we learn it, we can forget it. But the story continues because He wakes us up from that sleep.
A friend of mine once told me, “There are C. S. Lewis people and there are Max Lucado people, Greg, and you’re not a C. S. Lewis person.” I wasn’t sure whether to take that as a compliment or not. But I’d much rather use Lewis quotes than actually read him. I do read deeper than Lucado but just never could “get into” Clive.
Dee, You have been in my head! Especially when I had small children - yike, could I imagine stuff. Have you ever lived in North Dakota? There seems to be plenty to worry about when the snow is deep enough to bury the children! Not that it ever did. I still worry, but have found I can now put it aside because God is taking care of it.
Hi Dee, I’m back from Camp. I was “tempted” to not comment but I couldn’t help myself.