Lord, Am I the Answer?

Hello,

I just finished reading the book Perelandra by CS Lewis, and there is one scene from the book that is playing over and over in my head. Ransom, the protagonist, is wondering why there was a miracle of evil (The Devil had made it to Venus in a body in order to tempt the new Eve) without a miracle of good to counteract it (God coming to make sure this new Eve did not fall like the one on Earth did). Ransom ends up realizing he is the miracle. God brought him, a man with no space ship from Earth to Venus to do battle with the Devil as God’s representative. He begins this inner dialogue with himself, trying to make excuses so that he is not responsible if the woman ends up falling, but he ultimately comes to the point of surrender. He knows he was brought for a reason. He is there to act, not to be a bystander to what is happening. 

The reason this scene is playing over in my mind is how profound this is. We humans often find ourselves in a similar place to Ransom. We ask why God has not shown up for the orphans in Haiti instead of adopting orphans or giving to orphanages. We pray that God makes himself known to someone instead of sharing the Gospel with them. We ask that God helps our friend’s marriage instead of engaging, rebuking, and encouraging. So often we, like Ransom, are the miracle. We are the answer to prayer. We are the fork in the road for someone’s life. What would happen if we lived our lives knowing this? If before praying for something, we asked ourselves if we could be the answer to the prayer we are about to pray. I think it would change the world.

“O Lord, how many times have I prayed instead of acted? How many times have I questioned when You would have me be the answer? Lord, help me to act when I can. Break my lazy tendency to expect you to act through others and give me the drive to be your hands and feet. Amen.”

-NR