Favorable Conditions Never Come

“If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can really get down to our work.  The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable. Favorable conditions never come.”  C.S. Lewis, "Learning in War-Time", The Weight of Glory

There is always something more “fun” to do than to “learn”.  There is always something that is seeking our attention, making it difficult to want to sit down and study.  It may be a television show, or the “to-do” list, or a phone call, or…. Those who have learned a great deal, have forced themselves to set aside time to study.

I realized, however, that the above quote can also be applied to choosing contentment and joy.  We make the mistake of believing that those who seem to always be content must have everything together in life.  Nothing is further from the truth. The truth is that people who are content or joyful are in that state because they have looked beyond the things that would make them discontent.  Everyone has painful or hurtful things present in their lives. The true art of living is being able to see grace in every situation, being able to choose joy despite pain, and to choose contentment even when our sleeves are being pulled on by situations that want to drag us to be discontent.

Paul says as much in Philippians when he writes,

“[F]or I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” (Philippians 4:11-12).

Paul learned to be content, learned to be content in every situation.  It can be learned; it is not easy, nor is it a matter of simply snapping your fingers. But it can be learned.

We will always have an excuse to not be content. As C.S. Lewis said of learning, so contentment and joy can be found in every situation to those who want it so badly that they seek it while conditions are still unfavorable.  This is not some fairy dust, pie-in-the-sky fantasy. It takes tremendous courage, self-discipline, and strength to be able to choose contentment and joy even when there are hard things in life.  This is, however, the abundant life that Christ has for us – the ability to be content and joyful always.

Quietly Submit To Be Painted

“Remember that He is the artist and you are only the picture.  You can’t see it. So quietly submit to be painted –i.e., keep fulfilling all the obvious duties of your station (you really know quite well enough what they are!), asking forgiveness for each failure and then leaving it alone.  You are in the right way.  Walk—don’t keep looking at it.” C.S. Lewis, The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis, Volume 3

This quote reminds me of several other quotes.  It reminds me of the verse in Isaiah where it says, 

“But now, O LORD, You are our Father, 

We are the clay, and You our potter; 

And all of us are the work of Your hand.”

It reminds me of another C.S. Lewis when he says in essence, it is not our duty to succeed.  Finally, it reminds the saying, “Just do the next right thing.”

Perhaps you are like me, however.  I tend to forget this idea. I “work” hard to grow. And the harder I work, the more I expect results.  But that is not our job.  Our only job is to keep showing up.  We are simply along for the ride.  We will grow, if we keep showing up.  We will grow at the right rate, at the right time, for the right purpose.

Paradoxically, the Christian life is such that the harder we try to grow, the harder we “work”, the longer it takes. Yes, we need to show up.  But our job is simply to be malleable, amenable to when and how He works in our lives.  We will grow at different paces. There will be times of tremendous growth and long stretches of dryness. And our lives will rarely develop the way we hope or plan.  We save ourselves so much angst if we simply remember this and alter our expectations.

Hold on to the following truth:

[T]hat He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6.

He is painting a beautiful picture in your life…as long as you let Him.  Rest comfortably in that truth. Stop striving or fighting it.  Trust it instead.  

Pain Removes The Veil And Plants The Flag Of Truth

"No doubt Pain as God's megaphone is a terrible instrument: it may lead to final and unrepented rebellion. But it gives the only opportunity the bad man can have for amendment. It removes the veil; it plants the flag of truth within the fortress of a rebel soul." C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

None of us likes pain.  Pain is never something to look forward to. Unfortunately, pain is at times a "necessary evil" because of the rebelliousness of our hearts.  Sometimes the only way that God can break through the barrier that we have placed around our hearts is with a sledgehammer. In that sense, the pain that God allows (causes?) in our lives is a matter of grace.  In that sense, pain is not a necessary evil, but a necessary good.

Please do not misunderstand.  I am not saying that pain is good. We shirk from pain, and rightfully so.  Yet, we should never deny that God always uses pain for our benefit and His glory. Although that does not necessarily take the pain away, it can make it easier to bear.  We are able to endure when we take our eyes off of our current pain and focus on the promise that, "all things work together for the good."

This is beautifully summarized in Hebrews 12:11:

 "All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness."

Some reading this are in immense pain right now, be it physical or emotional. I do not mean to make light of your pain.  But rest assured that He is in the process of planting the flag of truth in your heart, and the yield will be the "peaceful fruit of righteousness"...as long as you let Him work.  As C.S. Lewis points out, we have two choices when faced with pain: (a) unrepentant rebellion, or (b) allowing the veil to be removed.   

Child of God, take courage and trust Him with your pain! Allow Him to work. It will produce great fruit.

"Why Love If Losing Hurts So Much?"

"Why love if losing hurts so much?  We love to know that we are not alone."  C.S. Lewis


When we love, we become vulnerable.  We can badly hurt by those who love us, either by things they do to us, by divorce, by rejection, by abuse, or even by death.  It can hurt so bad that we begin to wonder if we should love at all, if we should really leave ourselves so vulnerable.  We are tempted to withdraw and want to live in a cocoon.  We genuinely question whether Tennyson was right when he wrote, "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."


Well, Tennyson was right.  Yes, loving people leaves us open to great hurts.  Yet, the alternative is worst. The opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference or irrelevance.  There is no greater pain than the feeling of being completely alone.   If you have been hurt by someone whom you have loved deeply, do not give in to the temptation to withdraw.  In the long run, it will be even more painful.  


And, to put a spiritual spin on this, I am going to commit blasphemy and say that C.S. Lewis is not quite right.  We do not only love to know that we are not alone.  The real reason that we love is because God has loved us.  We are able to love and to be vulnerable because we have the faith that He loves us, we are never truly alone, and ultimately He will heal every hurt and dry every tear.

To Be A Christian Means To Forgive The Inexcusable

"To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you." C.S. Lewis, On Forgiveness in The Weight of Glory

Recently I have been asked to write about forgiving people who are difficult to forgive.  The person I was assigned to discuss was Casey Anthony, who, in all likelihood murdered her two year old daughter. Can I tell you the truth?  I struggle with being able to forgive her.  In my mind, she got away with murder, and not just any murder, but her own, innocent, defenseless child.

I think we refuse to forgive people for one of two reasons:

1.  We think we are better than the person:  This is what this C.S. Lewis quote speaks of.  While I may not be a murderer, I have done plenty of other evil things. All sin separates us from God.  None of us is righteous, not even one.  We all have worth, but none of us is more worthy than the anybody else in the eyes of God. We did not earn our forgiveness, so why should we think that other people have to earn forgiven?  This even applies to people like Casey Anthony.  Yes, she may have committed the inexcusable, but am I so different?

2. We have been deeply hurt: It is hard to forgive when we are deeply hurt.  We want the other person to have to pay for what they did. However, when we act as the judge and executioner, we are playing God. There is only one who can condemn, and it is God.  The beauty is that, in the end, God will exact justice. We just have to trust that in the end, He will defend us.  The ironic thing is that when we are deeply hurt, the longer we hold on to the pain by not forgiving, the slower it will be to heal.

Who do you have a hard time forgiving? 

The Stamp Of The Saint

“The stamp of the Saint is that he can waive his own rights and obey the Lord Jesus.” C.S. Lewis

We Americans are big on our rights.  Our Declaration of Independence even goes so far as to say that we all have “inalienable rights” of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”  As this quote from C.S. Lewis indicates, however, the more we pursue our “rights” the less likely we are to be obeying Christ.

Think about it.  The enforcement of one’s rights is inherently one of self-interest.  The Biblical mandate is one of humility.  Humility is not thinking poorly of oneself; rather humility is not thinking of one’s self at all.  Paul put it this way in his letter to the Philippians,

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,  not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 

Who, being in very nature God, 

   did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 

rather, he made himself nothing 

   by taking the very nature of a servant, 

   being made in human likeness. 

And being found in appearance as a man, 

   he humbled himself 

   by becoming obedient to death— 

      even death on a cross!"  Philippians 2: 3-8.    

Only when we give up self-interest can we serve with love, joy and kindness.  It is only when we give up our rights, that we become truly free from fear, anger, or bitterness.  We become patient with those around us, and are able to effectively serve without becoming burnt out or bitter.

I must be clear.  The Christian life is not one where we allow people to trample all over us.  Allowing someone to take advantage of you is not only bad for yourself, but is also bad for the person who is using you.  In that sense, we should stand up for ourselves.  But not allowing people to take advantage of us is much different than demand the enforcement of our so-called rights.

"Nothing Is Yet In Its True Form"

"Nothing is yet in its true form." C.S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces

This statement from C.S. Lewis is both encouraging and scary at the same time.  Change can be exciting and terrifying.  On one hand, it is encouraging that some things will be changed.  I will be changed, slowly more conformed into the image of Christ.  Also, the sickness and troubles of this life will be gone.  The struggles of this life will be resolved; the pain will be gone.  Yet, change can also be scary.  Often I am content where I am at, I am comfortable.  I do not want to change.


The point is we cannot cling to anything too tightly.  To use another C.S. Lewis analogy, too often we are content to play in the mud puddle, when God wants to take us to play at the sea shore.  God had great plans for you, as long as you are willing to stop clinging to mud.  


We cannot cling to relationships; they will end or change.  We cannot hold on to happiness; it will invariably slip away.  We also cannot hold on to sorrow or pain; if we hold on to it too long, it will kill us, figuratively or literally.  We cannot trust in our wealth; it is fleeting.


There are only two constants in our lives.  God is our Rock, a Shield, and a Wall behind which we can hide.  He is the only One who can truly say, "I will never leave or forsake You."  He does not change and He is faithful.  We can also depend on His Word and the promises in it: 

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away." (Luke 21:33, NASB) 

The only things in life we can trust completely are God and His Word.  Everything else will, in the end pass away and fail us.


We cannot lift our hands up to God unless our hands are open.  If we do not open our hands up and give whatever is in them to God, He will pry them open.


My fellow believer, do not cling to this life or this world too tightly.  Be in the world, but not of it.  God is not done with you.  Do not look behind at the world.  Instead, embrace His transforming power in your life.  Be encouraged and welcome change in your life; have confidence that, 

"He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6, NASB).

What say you?  What are you holding on to too tightly?  Are you resisting change?  Does it scare you?