the unlikely

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I am amazed at how God wishes to speak to the saints. Through His word or wonderful creation, God chooses to speak to everyone in His own way. I have heard Him through my brothers and sisters, through His creation, and through silence and… In the midst of a “girl’s night” (including creatively decorated & themed cookies, two amazing dinners, a couple of flower pot cups and my favorite sisters in Christ), He spoke to me…

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"I will take the Ring," he said, "though I do not know the way."

Elrond raised his eyes and looked at him.........

"This is the hour of the Shire-folk, when they arise from their quiet fields, to shake the towers and counsels of the Great. Who of all the Wise could have foreseen it?"

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About once a year I love to sit and watch The Lord of the Rings trilogy all the way through. Every now and then I will watch one of the movies here and there (The Fellowship of the Ring, the most), and every time I’m moved. Sure, the point of an epic movie, like that, is to trigger emotions…. At times it’s left me feeling heroic or courageous maybe sad or confused, even renewed!

Whatever be the case, I can tell you that God used that movie to get across a message to me: We are the unlikely and it is time to take our place. Our time to arise from 'our quite fields' and to 'shake' the world, no one will expect it.

When watching this movie I usually like to imagine myself in one of the characters shoes, I like to know them better and understand their motives and especially their purpose as the story unfolds. I’m that person, who analyzes movies, probably way too much! BUT after all we are called to question the things of this world and for me, this includes movies.

With that said, this time, was a bit different in that I placed myself in multiple characters shoes and then took an outsiders view to get a better idea of how it all came together. What I noticed was the story line in their realm paralleled with that of ours (earth). The struggles the characters had were evident. Each character struggled with something so relatable to our struggles that we felt for them.

I saw Aragorn struggle with his call to lead, even though he possessed the best leadership skills of them all, he was scared. Scared that he would fail and that he would fall into the same turmoil his forefathers did. Then there’s Sam, the courageous and faithful. The hobbit that strived to do everything right and moral, who was so loyal to his call, and yet unnoticed and humble before everyone and everything. Sam was a character with possibly the most struggle, because he saw all the struggles around him and also knew that he couldn’t bare all of their pain and conflict, even though God willing he would have. He wanted good to prevail… Arwen is perhaps one of my favorite characters because her beauty is ever appealing from the inside out. She possesses the courage I long to have, the encouragement I seek to perfect, and silence I can only dream of. She struggles though too, when her people leave middle earth to go to a better place, she wants so badly to stay and support the man she loves and the cause she believes in, even though every one and everything is telling her to go. Against all odds and ‘foreseen’ futures with an increasing fragility, she wants to stay and believe in the impossible. Legolas and Gimli are memorable characters, coming from different races and adversity, they choose to unite and fight with and for what good is left. Then there is Frodo. Frodo holds one of the most significant roles in the whole story as the ring bearer. The ring that carries all treachery, strife, struggles, greed, pretty much Pandora’s Box, for lack of better words, is on the neck of the innocent Frodo. This burden is his alone to carry, and while the help and assistance of others is extremely significant and essential, we cannot overlook the mayhem that Frodo undergoes…

What is that triggers these struggles? Where does it root from? When I think about the struggle I can't help but think their weaknesses represent the flesh and its continuous struggle against evil…. I see that this evil, the ring, is sinful in both nature and being consumes… just like sin. No one can escape it. It affects everyone and even those who have no idea of its power are affected. Its master longs to eat up all of middle earth and there is no mercy. Deceiving in every way, shining its ‘gloriousness’ to the unknowing eye, it possesses strength and darkness that governs all who will it. Men bow down to it being used as mere puppets in its path of destruction. The dark force that’s so real and requires great skill and preparedness to confront it is… JUST LIKE SIN.

As I sat and watched the movie I couldn't help but think about how real the battle is between good and evil. Perhaps the thing that got me thinking most though in all of this is the characters themselves, and their purpose in 'life' and what they're called to do. Not a time goes by that I don’t wonder what it is that God wants for me to do. Is what I’m doing in His will? If not, will He close the door? How can I defeat sinful temptations and escape sin? Is this really what you want me to do? So many questions and frustrations in my own flesh and disappointment in myself has me sometimes feeling like Frodo, when he first discovers the rings power and demolition it can bring to one single being.

Frodo: “I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.”

Gandalf: “So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, 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.”

Be encouraged brothers & sisters! What Gandalf’s character says here should be an encouragement to you, for there is much truth in that statement. We are called to know Jesus and we are called to accept Him as our Savior and King! Know that there is a battle raging and going on right now, in the flesh and dark supernatural powers, check it out in Eph 6:12! But God has chosen you to stand up to shine and to fight against all odds, to battle sin. He hates sin, He hates it sooo much! We must repent and surrender our lives to Him, because He is the only one who can overcome it, and will in the end. Our job is to give Him our best…

One thing that shouldn't be overlooked, is that each of the characters were not the 'most likely' to accomplish their task. Think about each of them. A hobbit being called to leave his land of peace to carry the very thing that destroys peace; an elf called to give up her immortality in complete humility; a dwarf and an elf called to team and befriend the very beings they despise; a rider used to a life of exile and solitude called to govern; a kingdom of a few hundred called to battle thousands. Does any of this sound familiar?

God has called the most ‘unlikely’ to do His will. He calls the weak to bring strength, and the sick to bring healing, and the all sinners to overcome sin. Whatever your struggle is: porn, addiction, the American dream, depression, self pity, humility, self righteousness... You are called to overcome it, and that makes you, unlikely, for when we are weak He is strong. "How am I ever to do ‘this’, how can I do ‘that… No. If God has called you to a task, it’s because He chose it perfectly for you to do and go through, bringing Him more glory, because He is ever so worthy! The enemy will always say otherwise, fight it! Put on your armor and step up.

Remember the world is watching for the likely: presidents, political leaders, stars and starlets to change the world. But God has called the unlikely to do His bidding and in the end the One Who made the world with His very hands, will own that last battle. Everyday is one day closer to the last battle that Revelation talks about. Stand firm and listen, God is calling.