One of my morning devotions is reading through C. S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters. If you are unfamiliar with this book, it is a set of fictional letters written by a demon named Screwtape who is giving his nephew Wormwood advice on how to deceive a human "client." Using this literary technique, Lewis exposes truths in a way that is far more profound than if they were to simply be taught.
These letters are both convicting, but also a relief. In areas where you think you are standing strong, you might discover that you are being deceived. In areas where you believe that you are weak, you might discover that your weakness draws you nearer to God. I'm currently in chapter 27 and one of my favorite statements of this chapter is, "Anything, even a sin, which has the total effect of moving him [the client] close up to the Enemy [God], makes against us in the long run." Not that God wants us to sin, but sometimes our brokenness through sin draws us nearer to God. Counter intuitive statements like this make this a very worthwhile read.
Here's another (the context is that they are trying to discourage the client from praying): "...you can worry him with the haunting suspicion that the practice is absurd and can have no objective result...If the thing he prays for doesn't happen, then that is one more proof that petitionary prayers don't work; if it does happen, he will, of course, be able to see some of the physical causes which led up to it, and 'therefore it would have happened anyway', and thus a granted prayer becomes just as good a proof as a denied one that prayers are ineffective."
These are just two incredible lessons from one mornings reading (1 chapter)! When we consider what sort of path it appears we are treading, today, don't be discouraged. That's what I think a large part of the lesson is that Lewis is trying to get across. We don't see things the way God does, thus we are participating in a ministry beyond the scope of our understanding.
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