Every night, before he went to bed, my youngest son and I would read a book together.  At one stage we started reading the Narnia Series. We were reading The Horse and His Boy. This book is about a ‘northern’ boy (Shasta) raised in evil Calormen who escapes his life of slavery with a Narnian ‘talking’ horse.  Along the way he is joined by another Narnian horse and a Calormene girl, escaping an arranged marriage to an old and cruel man.  We reached a chapter where Shasta found himself riding an ordinary horse along a road in Archenland in thick fog.  As he rode he remembered many things.  How as a baby he was washed up in a boat with a dying man and taken in by a Calormene fisherman who treated him as a slave and beat him.  How he was chased by lions on his horse Bree.  How he was separated from his travelling companions and spent a terrifying night on the edge of the dessert amongst Calormene tombs. At one point in the night he was pursued by jackals.  He remembered how he endured a terrible journey through the blinding heat of the dessert.  How we was again chased by lions and had to run back to rescue his companion on her horse.  How, after arriving safely in a walled garden he was sent without rest and sustenance, on foot, to find King Lune and warn him about an imminent Calormene invasion.  How, once he found King Lune, he was placed on a horse that ignored his commands and he fell further and further back and became separated from the rest of King Lune’s men in heavy fog.  And he remembered the way his Calormene companion treated him with contempt and how the two Narnian horses also treated him as though he was useless.  As he rode, alone in the fog, he began to feel sorry for himself. 

“Why?  Why do bad things always happen to me?  Why can’t something good happen for a change?” 

Eventually he became aware of a presence walking next to him in the fog.  He had a conversation with this presence that pointed out it was there when he was cast adrift in his boat, there keeping a lonely fisherman awake to receive a baby and raise it, there as he and his horse ran from the lion and were forced to join forces with the Calormene girl and her horse.  As he waited in fear, alone on the edge of the dessert, this presence came in the form of a large cat that sat with him and kept him company.  Later, when threatened by jackals, it came in the form of a lion that chased the jackals away.  He was there in the form of the lion that chased him and his companions on so that they would warn King Lune in time.  He is with Shasta now, as he rides alone and frightened in the fog.  Shasta knows a great peace, and as the fog clears he comes face to face with Aslan, C S Lewis’s image of Jesus.

Later, as he returned along the path he had travelled in the fog the night before he realised that on one side, the side Aslan walked on, there was a sheer drop. He realised that even in this time he was being watched over. I thought of this and the footprints poem written by Margaret Fishback Powers. They speak about Jesus being with us always, caring and understanding.  I can remember times when, like Shasta, I wallowed in self pity, feeling alone and friendless. But the thing it, when the world seems to not care or understand, He does. When we feel alone and vulnerable, He is watching over us and protecting us.
Want to know more? You could start by reading Psalm 121 and see where the Spirit leads you.

Almost twenty years ago, God told me I was a prophet. In the years since that time I wondered if I had imagined it. I never seemed to get the chance to do anything. Then three years ago He told me He wanted me to reach out to those stumbling in darkness. I eagerly awaited a ministry opportunity to become available, but nothing every did. Almost two years ago, I was reading the Bible and it occurred to me. Do you think Jesus found it easy being a humble carpenter for 30 years of his life? He probably was not taken seriously, particularly in the synagogue. He was the son of God, he knew more about the scriptures than anyone else, yet who valued that? He humbly and patiently waited, doing His Father’s bidding. Accepting his will. Who am I to chafe at all my unused knowledge? At the time I was in a job in which I felt undervalued and overqualified. I was worshipping a church where I am not taking seriously and all my knowledge and prophesy went unspoken. But I realised, God has a plan. At that moment I saw I needed to learn to wait patiently and be humble. To serve as Jesus served, patiently and humbly. God has a plan for my life and there is no urgency. Even if I should grow old waiting, my age is no barrier to whatever His plan is in my life.
If you are struggling today my message is: Wait on the Lord. Be patient and faithful. Resist the devil in Jesus name and he will flee from you. Do not be impatient. Do not sin. Follow God and trust that He is your banner and your shield. Know that all is taken care of. Life is not about me and my rights but about God and serving him to advance his Kingdom, to reach those stumbling in the darkness.
In the C. S. Lewis book Prince Caspian, the young Prince said he did not feel ready to be a King of Narnia and Aslan said that was why he knew Caspian was ready to be King. It is something to ponder.
Wait patiently for God’s time and trust that when He calls you, you will be ready.