The Claws That Go Deep Enough

In C.S. Lewis's The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the boy Eustace Scrubb falls asleep on a dragon's hoard and wakes to discover he has become a dragon himself. His greed has literally consumed him, reshaping him into the thing he worshiped. Desperate, Eustace tries to scratch off the dragon skin. He peels away one layer, then another, then another — but each time, there is more dragon underneath.

Then Aslan appears. "You will have to let me undress you," the great Lion says. And His claws go deeper than Eustace ever dared to go himself. It hurts terribly. But when Aslan finishes and throws the boy into a pool of clear water, Eustace emerges with new, tender skin — human again.

Every one of us has tried to heal ourselves. We peel back a layer of resentment, shed an old habit, scratch at the grief we carry. And for a moment it feels like progress. But the wound goes deeper than our own hands can reach. Real healing — the kind that makes us whole — requires us to surrender to the One whose hands are strong enough and loving enough to reach the places we cannot.

The Almighty does not heal us by leaving us comfortable. He heals us by going deep. And yes, the water stings when we first enter it. But on the other side of that sting is the person we were always meant to be.