The McPherson Exodus

Don’t get confused by this blog’s title; we are not technically going anywhere…at least I don’t think.

When I see the word, “exodus” several things come to mind; yes, one of the images is like a pilgrimage or escape from one place to another. However, the second image is that of freedom and liberation; a releasing of the captives from sore bondage and affliction.

That is the “exodus” image that I wish to conjure.

In C.S. Lewis’ classic work The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Narnia, a land of enchantment and wonder is under a perpetual winter that has been forced upon it by the evil White Witch. She has usurped the throne of Narnia from the rightful King, Aslan the Lion, who is the Son of the Emperor Beyond the Sea. Throughout the novel one is bombarded with the images of winter: cold, frost, fear, intimidation, and oppression; Narnia seems to be forever trapped in a wretched, bitter snow globe.

But then something happens; Aslan returns.

When Aslan sets foot in Narnia, the frigid air begins to retreat, joy begins to be heard, and the animals of Narnia are freed from the servitude of Witch’s reign of terror. Where once, the only green was found on the evergreens, blooms and blossoms begin to burst forth across the land. It is clear who is more powerful and who the true regent of Narnia is.

For too long, my family’s life (we are psychologically enmeshed in one “life”, for good or ill) has been Narnia. The enemy has inflicted upon us cold fear and oppression far worse than any image that Lewis could paint in The Chronicles. The enemy has forced us to be isolated, to fear the outside world, to believe that we are alone and that despite our pleas to God, we are abandoned to his merciless hatred toward us.

But our Deliverer is coming; he is coming soon.

All of my life I have felt like I have lived in the Valley of the Shadow of Death; as if I am some wandering Bedouin making my home amongst the crags. Though the Psalm says, “I will fear no evil,” I have been frightened and bullied beyond clinical sanity. There is always a cloud; the jailer who reminds me that even though I am “free” in Christ that I am not really free. He tells me that these are just pretty words. In every damaging event that has sent my family reeling; I have always felt hopeless and yes, abandoned.

But not this time. This time our Deliverer is coming, soon.

The cloud, the shadow, the frost…they are all melting away. Where before we would just sink more into the mire, now there is hope. The smells of Spring, the intoxicating aroma of freedom and liberation are now wafting under our nostrils. Aslan has returned; the King has come to break our bondage. The enemy’s power is failing; he is trying desperately to use the old tactics but they are no longer working. He is angry and furious and he threatens to destroy us all; but as the people on Mt. Carmel in I Kings 18 found out, he is a liar and fraud. He truly has no power over those who trust and cast their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Free at last, free at last! Thank God Almighty, we will soon be free at last!

Grace and Peace