“Christmas is coming!”
Kori said this to me as we were sitting in the park watercoloring one day last week. She wasn’t talking about the actual holiday approaching; she was telling me about a picture the Lord gave to her in that moment. I was telling her about frozen things in my life- things that are waiting for the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise. As I was talking, God gave her a vision of the scene in Narnia when the Beavers are leading Peter, Susan, and Lucy across the frozen lake. Halfway across, they hear a sleigh of reindeer in heavy pursuit after them. They mistake this sleigh for the Witch’s, and terrorized, they attempt to flee her. Moments later, Beaver crawls bravely out of the cove they are hiding in, and notices that it isn’t the Witch at all. It’s Santa Clause! His presence alone is a message of hope. It represents the coming of Christmas, signifying the ending of the winter season. Santa Clause gives each of them a gift and words of encouragement. In the scene after this one, the wolves surround Peter, his sisters, and the Beavers. The ice begins to crack from the tumult of the roaring waters beneath, even though it’s all been frozen solid for over a hundred years. How can this be? What does this mean?
Kori receives this scene as a vision, and expanding upon it she says, “the significance of the ice cracking is to show that the winter is over.” The fulfillment of frozen things breaking for the reckoning beneath to pour out is upon us. I hadn’t seen this movie in years, so I did my best to put the images together as she spoke this out on Friday.
Last night on Jacob’s birthday we actually watched Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, the Wardrobe because he really wanted to and we love him. Although Narnia hasn’t always been my top pick, I was really expectant for the Lord to speak as I watched the scene Kori had shared with me in the park. I watched in awe as the signs of Christmas coming meant that the long winter was ending.
One of my favorite moments is of Beaver and his wife in their dam, giddily whispering in hopeful anticipation, “Aslan is on the move.” They can feel it in the air, a glimmer of something new and light changing the cold atmosphere of a darkened winter landscape- hope.
It’s a message for me and it’s a message for you and it’s a message for the people of Romania. God will fulfill what He has spoken to you. The ice will break in holy anticipation for what’s to come. The spring was upon Narnia because the feet of the Sons of Adam and the daughters of Eve had crossed over to reclaim what was their inheritance.
It is partnership with God, as He moves, we move, and life springs forth.
In Romania, as a squad, we’re in a place physically known as a spiritual graveyard. Missionaries who come here and people who live here feel the heaviness of a darkness. Here we stand, the feet of the daughters of Eve and the Sons of Adam, bringing spring upon the land.
Here’s another thing God’s showing me: Spring doesn’t come in the ways we expect. In the movie, when Aslan is raised from the dead, he doesn’t immediately go into battle even though the fighting has intensified, and the Witch is gaining ground. He goes into the Witch’s castle and he finds those who have been lost and turned to stone. He breathes life onto them. The only words I can think of to describe this decision come from the song Defender,
“When I thought I lost me
You knew where I left me
You reintroduced me to myself
You picked up all my pieces
Put me back together
You are the Defender of my heart.”
It mattered to Aslan that He found the lost, the broken-hearted, the forgotten, and the counted dead.
Watching this represented to me that the Lord will always bring resurrection to my broken pieces out of the power of His own resurrection. And when I think I know what’s best, like Susan and Lucy expected to be taken straight into the battle, the Lord’s different ways of working will create better results than my own. Peter’s army needed the reinforcements that Aslan’s breath brought back. The World needs the broken pieces of your heart that God isn’t letting you leave behind unredeemed. This place we are gathered is Holy Ground.
As the movie ends, and Lucy and Mr. Tumnus watch Aslan walk away, they say some of the truest words ever spoken-
He isn’t a tame Lion, but He’s good.
He’s out of our control. He’s on His own timing. He’s loving you always.
Thank You Lord.
Written with you in mind,
Aidyn Moranne <3
