Suffering

In The Silver Chair, the fourth book in the C.S. Lewis book The Chronicles of Narnia, Jill is lost in a scary forest. She begins to cry and is very thirsty. As she looks for water she finds a stream and runs toward it. But, lying beside it is a Lion. The Lion begins a remarkable conversation with her and she must now trust him.

CS Lewis said the following words using the mouth of Aslan, the Christ figure, as he talks to Jill, a scared little girl: "I make no promise." Concerning what? The Lion makes no promise that Jill will not suffer. He won't promise that she'll have a better life, more money, no pain, happiness, etc. What does he do? He invites her to drink the water she really needs, and this is fellowship with Him.

I like what SK said, "there is something very upbuilding in the thought that what is said of Christ also holds true of all suffering: what he suffered he suffered once. One must suffer only once: the victory is eternal." I looked up SK's bibliography regarding "what is said of Christ" and found the following; read Hebrews 7:27; 9:12, 9:26, 9:28, and 10:10. Take heart Jill, you have a better hope and you're anchored in God who offers all this.