The Dragon Skin

In C.S. Lewis's The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the boy Eustace Scrubb becomes a dragon — transformed by his own greed when he falls asleep on a dragon's hoard. He is miserable, isolated, trapped in scaly skin that reflects what selfishness had already been doing to his soul.

Eustace tries to fix himself. He scratches and peels away one layer of dragon skin, then another, then another. Each time, a new layer of scales appears underneath. His best efforts at self-renovation only reveal more brokenness beneath.

Then Aslan comes. "You will have to let me undress you," the lion says. And Aslan's claws go deep — far deeper than Eustace ever dared to scratch. It hurts terribly. But when it is finished, Aslan throws the boy into clear water, and the sting becomes relief. Eustace emerges with new, tender skin. Himself again — or rather, himself for the first time.

Lewis understood something pastors see every Sunday morning: we cannot heal ourselves. We try — we peel back one habit, one grudge, one coping mechanism — and find another layer of damage underneath. Real healing requires a hand that is not our own, a love willing to cut deeper than our comfort allows.

The Healer's work often stings before it soothes. But what Jehovah Rapha removes, He replaces with something whole and living. The invitation is not to try harder, but to hold still and let Him reach the places we cannot.