PROOF AND APPROVAL

If you have seen the movie The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,* did you happen to catch this exchange between King Peter and Queen Lucy? The region of Narnia (it’s been stripped of kingship) is in perilous trouble, and Peter is staring at a mural of Aslan, the Great Lion and Sovereign over all. When they had faced danger before, Aslan came to their rescue and guided the kings and queens with his wisdom. It’s been over a thousand years since anyone has seen Aslan, and even King Peter is beginning to have doubts.

Peter: You've seen [Aslan]. I wish he'd just given me some sort of proof.
Lucy: Maybe we're the ones that need to prove ourselves to him.

It is so easy, isn’t it, to want proof that we are on the right path; making the right decisions; following our calling; or making noble plans that glorify the King of kings? We are a society of women and men who are evaluated routinely on our performance, as people, as workers, as parents, siblings, children, from the boardroom to the bedroom and everywhere in-between. We yearn for approval, for “proof” as Peter put it, because we have been trained up from a very early age to perform.

In his bestselling devotional My Utmost for His Highest,** Oswald Chambers writes: “God’s revelation of Himself to me is influenced by my character, not by God’s character.” That was part of High King Peter’s problem. His doubts about himself transferred into his doubts about Aslan.

That is routinely our problem too.

Queen Lucy had the perfect answer; “Maybe we're the ones that need to prove ourselves to him.” That is the crux isn’t it? In most cases, we have the tools. We often have experience. But when things get rough, we’re busy seeking approval when in fact; we have already been approved as witnessed by another Peter . . .

But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (1Peter 2:9).

If you are struggling today, needing a hand up, then think on this: if Christ is your King, then you have already been chosen as an ambassador, an heir, a princess or prince of the Throne of the Most High. You have what you need. You are approved.

So be encouraged. Go, act on what you know is right in the eyes of God and His Word, fulfill your noble plans, and as you go, tell others, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mat 10:7).


"A noble man devises noble plans; and by noble plans he stands" (Isaiah 32:8).

*The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008) Walden Media
** My Utmost for His Highest, Discovery House Publishers, Grand Rapids, MI