This quote is from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe* by C.S. Lewis in regard to Aslan, King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea, the Lion, the great Lion.

Susan was nervous and Mrs. Beaver assured her that she should be. Lucy asked, “Then he isn’t safe?”

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver, “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

Untamed God

The God I have come to know and am still coming to know is not safe. This is what I mean.

He is the God who asks me to give up all I own and trust Him to provide for me. He is the God who leads me according to His will and purpose and not my own plans. He is the God who tells me to forgive the unforgiveable. He is the God who asks me to do what I cannot do (for I have always failed at it). He is the God who calls me out of my complacency and dares me to go to unknown places and humbly serve. He is the God who tells me in my anger and hurt to let it go and give it back to Him. He is the God of unanswered prayers who tells me to keep believing.

He is not safe. But He is good.

In giving away possessions and security, He provided every needed thing and then heaped on more than I thought possible.

His plans for me have led to peace and provision I never imagined.

Forgiveness released the pain that I could not bear, and brought restoration.

Being willing to obey, even if it meant humiliation, revealed unknown and unexplored possibilities—things I would have never known if I had not taken the risk He had called me to. In the obedient going, I have seen Him move and act and do marvelous things.

In trusting Him and not taking things into my own hands, I have been awed by what He had in mind all along.

He is the God who answers in ways I could not comprehend and that leave me speechless in wonder.

This I know—He is not small. He is not ordinary. He is not safe. But He is good.

“For our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29).

“From the end of the earth I will cry to You. When my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings” (Psalm 61:2-4).

  • Lewis, C. S. (2021). The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Antiquarius.