Column by Bro. Terry Ivy
“God moves in mysterious ways.” (Christian Hymn, William Cowper, 1773) As a young boy, Jack lay sick in his bed with a toothache, crying for his mother to come and comfort him. In the room down the hall, his mother was dying from cancer. She never came to his room. The boy lost the most significant influence of his life at nine years old. His dad was emotionally distant from Jack and sent him to boarding school. The schoolmaster was abusive and controlling. At the tender age of 14, Jack renounced any belief in God.
As a 19-year-old boy, Jack moved with his unit on the battlefield in France. They were part of the Light Infantry attempting to stop the spring offensive of the Germans during WWI. As they marched across the ‘no man’s land’ to push back against the enemy's forces, their unit advanced under cover of artillery support. As the shells fell on the German lines, one of them fell short of its mark and landed in the midst of Jack's advancing unit.
As the shell exploded, Jack was severely wounded. Shrapnel pierced his left arm, leg, and chest. This shell killed several of his comrades, including his commanding officer. When Jack regained consciousness, he began clawing his way through the mud, attempting to return back to the foxhole his unit had started its charge. Eventually, the medics found him trying to crawl across the rain-soaked battlefield. Jack was taken to a hospital to begin a long road of recovery.
Jack and his four best friends fought on the battlefields of Europe as they stood against fascism. While recovering, Jack learned that his four friends had all been killed. Yet, he alone survived the war. Why was he spared? What purpose was before him? After all, as an atheist, he did not believe in any Divine plan for his life.
Years later, Jack became a teaching scholar at Oxford University. He found himself surrounded by colleagues who also happened to be Christians. After much discussion and debate about Christianity and faith over the course of several years, Jack concluded that God existed and that Jesus Christ is who he said he was—the Savior of mankind. As a result, he humbled himself, repented, and surrendered his life to Christ.
Jack became the most outstanding Christian Apologist of the 20th century. God spared his life and used him mightily. His influence is still marching forward as more of his books sell today than when he was alive. His close friends knew him as Jack. You and I know him as C. S. Lewis.
We can’t always trace the finger of God as He works in a person’s life. We often fail to see how He can work through our circumstances, especially when they are difficult. However, when we do not see God’s hands, we can trust His heart. He sees the beginning from the end. And He alone can make something beautiful out of something so ugly. The Lord still moves in… Mysterious Ways!
