Written by John Stonestreet, a contemporary author and president of the Colson Center.
How did God draw this Oxford intellectual [C.S.Lewis]? Convinced of his atheistic beliefs and treasuring the autonomy they afforded him, what compelled Lewis on the path to Christianity? According to Os Guinness, it was joy. “At its heart, [Lewis’] life was about longing—‘an inconsolable longing’—for something beyond human experience. Such longing was ‘an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction.’” Rather than a singular experience or moment of awakening that led him to faith, Lewis’ signals were the innate longings for joy that returned to him throughout the course of his life, longings that were acknowledged, but never quite fulfilled, by the joys of earthly things. Lewis experienced hints of joy through nature, music, imagination, and relationship, but “the Joy was not in them; it only came through them.” These signals pointed Lewis to something beyond themselves, to a Source of joy that could satisfy his deep hunger for it. Of course, by God’s persistent grace, Lewis would find what his heart longed for, and it would compel him to surrender his autonomy and turn to the God he had denied for so long. From staunch atheist to one of the most influential evangelists in Christian history, Lewis’ story testifies to the power of God to redeem even the hardest of hearts.
Prayer:
Today’s prayer is from the Daily Prayers of the Church of England.
Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
For you have redeemed me, Lord God of truth.
Keep me as the apple of your eye.
Hide me under the shadow of your wings.
Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.
In peace we will lie down and sleep;
for you alone, Lord, make us dwell in safety.
Abide with us, Lord Jesus,
for the night is at hand and the day is now past.
As the night watch looks for the morning,
so do we look for you, O Christ.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.
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