You are a Ring-bearer

"I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened" - Frodo Baggins

One of my favorite movies series is the Lord of the Rings. So much beauty, so much imagery, and so many messages. When all seems hopeless; when the problem looks to great; some choose to stand and fight for the good. No hero in this story is so great, and yet so small, as young Frodo Baggins.

When his uncle Bilbo disappears, he inherits a great burden - to rid the world of the greatest evil it has ever know: the "One Ring". He must fight impossible odds, face unspeakable foes, and overcome insurmountable danger. To say it was overwhelming - and on days seemed hopeless - would be perhaps the greatest understatement of all time.

As he sat talking to Gandalf, despairing, he uttered that famous line, "I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened". How many times have we been in this same position? What circumstance feels this way to us? What odds seem insurmountable? Frodo felt the same way. The burden seemed to great, the problem to big, and the situation to hopeless. If we are honest, we have all been there, or are there right now.

At this moment, Gandalf chose to share one simple truth. He simply looked at Frodo and said, "So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to do is to decide what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the ring, in which case, you were also meant to have it, and that is an encouraging thought."

Sometimes, when we are in the midst of the hard times, we forget that this is the path He has chosen us to walk. He is leading us, and guiding us, and His power is a work - and that is an encouraging thought. If He is only God in the good times, He is not much of a god. If He is only leading me beside the still waters, then He is not very powerful in the shadow of death.

The longer I walk this path, the more I realize how important it is to remember His faithfulness. If I have trusted Him this far, how can I stop now? God has walked me through so much, and He will walk beside me no matter what the obstacle or the outcome. Job once said, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him."

Sometimes, just like Frodo, I wish I did not have to deal with these challenges. Yet this is where God has me, and He is in control - in a sense, as Gandalf said, I was meant too walk through this, and that can be an encouraging thought, because there is always someone with me who goes before me.

What "ring" are you bearing today? What burden seems to heavy? Remember, He is with you, and He meant for you to walk this path, and that is an encouraging thought, because He is with you.