The Marsh-Wiggle Who Chose to Believe

In C.S. Lewis's The Silver Chair, there is a scene that every pastor should know. The children Jill and Eustace, along with a gangly, web-footed creature named Puddleglum, have descended deep underground to rescue a captive prince. But the Green Witch begins weaving an enchantment, burning a sweet powder that clouds their minds. She speaks in a voice like honey, persuading them that Narnia does not exist, that Aslan is a fairy tale, that there is no sun — only the dim lamps of her underground kingdom.

One by one, the children begin to surrender. The spell is that convincing.

Then Puddleglum does something unexpected. He stamps his bare foot into the enchanted fire. The pain breaks through the fog in his mind, and he speaks words that still ring with defiance: "Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one." He declares that even if everything he believes turns out to be make-believe, the made-up world sounds better than the real one — and he intends to live as a Narnian.

Faith does not always mean the doubts disappear. Sometimes it means choosing to trust what God has shown you, even when the fog rolls in and every voice around you whispers that none of it is real. The Almighty does not ask for certainty without struggle. He asks for the courage to stamp out the fire and stand.