Aslan is on the move...

 …”Wake up, sleeper, 

rise from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you.”

—Ephesians 5:14

While at a football game several weeks ago, I noticed an existential difference in the way Christians, women in particular, can be approachable and also not so approachable.  It is my personality to examine, to take in my surroundings, scan to see if they are safe, and proceed with caution.  At this particular game, my husband was working and my kids were off doing their friend things.  Cadence, to my right, ran the grassy area.  Gabe, to my left, stood in the student section.  Both full of laughter, full of chatter and smiles.  The game, in front of me, was a blowout.  And while I was somewhat consumed with watching the joy on full display in my children, I also took notice of those around me.  In one area, a cluster of moms were circled up and full of conversation and laughter.  In another, mom’s sitting more open.  They were still having conversation, but they weren’t walled off.  Both groups were full of wonderful, lovely, friendly, Christian women, but one felt more inviting.  I spoke about it to Cadence later the next day, but I couldn’t quite explain the phenomenon that I felt.  Why did one group feel safer?  Why did one feel more approachable?  How could we display that same openness?  How can we be approachable?  

Yesterday, I interacted more intimately with one of those moms in the “safe” group.  I felt it.  I experienced the difference and could finally explain the difference.  Intent.  The woman was intentional in forming links and not in building walls.  She sought out others, cared to get to know them, and wanted to form links with them in the work of Christ.  It wasn’t a sympathy, pet project, collecting of the poors, but an intentional desire to build relationship and advance the Kingdom of God.  She stood with proverbial arms open wide to link up with other moms and do the work.  And let me tell you just a snippet about the work. It’s providing a meal for young men. It’s providing a gathering for young men.  It’s organizing Godly men who take time out of their day to come and speak to young and impressionable men.  This is how you build Kingdoms.  This is how you create revival, invoke awakening, and promote legacies.  This is how you advance the Kingdom.  There is no doubt that these talks and these opportunities will have lasting impact on Gabe and will pour over into his decision making and his future family.  It’s an answer of prayer to see Aslan on the move.  

At Patrick Henry a few weeks ago, a professor spoke about feeling and seeing “Aslan on the move” before deciding to work at the college.  He had been to the schools that had a good talk, a good speech about Jesus and culture, but PHC was different.  From the professors to the staff to the students, the school was different.  I felt this difference when Gabe returned from camp over the summer.  The way he spoke about circumstances, school, dating, and marriage was all through the lens of Christ.  How could four weeks have been so impactful?  How much more could four years produce?  Since returning and hearing those words, “Aslan is on the move,” I have prayed for that awakening and revival.  

In “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” Mr. Beaver signals the power of the witch is breaking when he declares that Aslan is moving. The power of sin is losing its grip.  There is hope.  The mere name of Aslan stirs within them courage and joy.  When I sit in the word and when I write these words in these times when I am called to do so, I feel that hope in the name of Christ.  It’s the warm and tinglies of a Lord I do not deserve but who is at work.  It’s a leap of joy of my spirit in the presence of the Lord.  It’s a renewal that Aslan is on the move.  How is God working in you and around you?  How do you present an approachable spirit and how do you form links and tear down walls?  As Aslan enters Narnia and the snow and ice melt and new life springs forth, I pray we wake from our sleep and rise from the dead and feel Christ shine on us and that we will reflect that light.