In Prince Caspian, the second of his classic “Chronicles of Narnia” books, C.S. Lewis describes a meeting between Lucy (the youngest of the children who are the main characters in the books), and Aslan the lion, who is the Christ figure in the stories. Lucy has not seen Aslan for quite some time and she is overjoyed to be in his presence again. As she rests between his massive front paws she observes, “Aslan, you’re bigger.” Aslan replies, “That is because you are older, little one.”
Our experience is that things grow as they get older. The opposite is also true. As we get older, the things around us get smaller. I remember, at sixteen, returning to my boyhood home which we had moved from when I was eleven. It was much as I remembered it, except it seemed so much smaller—because I had grown. Lucy’s experience had led her to similar conclusions, so she was confused by Aslan’s statement. She quizzed him again. “Is it not because you are older?” she asked. Aslan explained further, “I am not [older], but every year you grow, you will find me bigger.”
What a poignant observation of the nature of Christian discipleship: as we grow, God gets bigger! Paul prayed for the Ephesians that, as they grew, they would have an increasing ability “to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge…” (Eph. 3:18-19).
One indication that we are growing, then, should be that our awareness of who God is, and his greatness as our creator, sustainer, and redeemer, is also growing. Indeed, based on what Paul says about the love of Christ, it would seem entirely likely that God will be seeming to get bigger and bigger, and greater and greater, for all eternity, as we discover more and more of the wonders of who he is! Yet, though we will be discovering his wonders for eternity, he will not actually be any more wonderful than he is right now—because he is already fully complete and perfect in himself. He is not growing, we are!
This fact should be of great comfort to us as we live in this uncertain world. Many of the things that, a couple of years ago, seemed so permanent, have been shown to be fragile, and we have learned that life in this world is unpredictable and can change in an instant.
The truth that is so easily lost sight of has been driven home to us—that we cannot depend on the things of this world for our security or confidence for the future. There is only one solid rock to which we can anchor our lives, and that is our God. On a daily basis, we face personal problems, fears, anxieties and losses, and sometimes they threaten to overwhelm us—but they are nothing to our God. The best way to get our problems in perspective, and live with confidence in this uncertain world, is to get our God in perspective. May we learn to “call upon the Lord in [our] distress” (Ps. 18:6) and find him bigger and bigger every day!
Pastor Jon Enright