As Frodo Baggins and his loyal companion Samwise Gamgee pressed on through their dangerous quest in J. R. R. Tolkien\u2019s story, \u2018The Lord of the Rings,\u2019 they had this exchange:<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t like anything here at all,\u201d said Frodo, \u201cstep or stone, breath or bone. Earth, air, and water all seem accursed. But so our path is laid.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, that\u2019s so,\u201d said Sam. \u201cAnd we shouldn\u2019t be here at all, if we\u2019d known more about it before we started. But I suppose it\u2019s often that way. The brave things in the old tales and songs, Mr. Frodo: adventures, as I used to call them. I used to think they were the things the wonderful folk of the stories went out and looked for, because they wanted them, because they were exciting and life was a bit dull, a kind of a sport as you might say. But that is not the way of it with the tales that really mattered, or the ones that stay in the mind. Folk seem to have just landed in them, usually \u2014 their paths were laid that way, as you put it. But I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning back, only they didn\u2019t\u2026\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Despite a lack of comprehension, Frodo the Ringbearer, knew he had a destiny and was compelled to reach it\u2026 though he wasn\u2019t so sure he could. Sam, his faithful servant, understood even less, yet knew he would do his best to help his friend to the very end.<\/p>\n
Three times in the book of Revelation, Jesus refers to Himself as \u2018the Alpha and the Omega,\u2019 the Beginning and the End. He, too, walked this earth as a human, listening to a Spirit He could not see and trusting His Father completely. Jesus knew His destiny, but along the way there would be much misunderstanding, accusation, rejection, and sorrow. Thank God, He did not turn back.<\/p>\n
Our vision is often cloudy as we follow our Master. Oswald Chambers, born in Aberdeen Scotland in 1874 and dying in 1917 in Cairo, Egypt while serving as chaplain for WWI soldiers, often articulated the beauty of our Lord while examining challenges of the journey.<\/p>\n
From The Missionary\u2019s Goal<\/em>:<\/p>\n
In our natural life our ambitions change as we grow, but in the Christian life the goal is given at the very beginning, and the beginning and the end are the same, namely, our Lord Himself. We start with Christ and we end with Him \u2013 \u2018\u2026 till we all come\u2026 to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ\u2026,\u2019 not simply to our own idea of what the Christian life should be. The goal of the missionary is to do God\u2019s will\u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
From The Big Compelling of God<\/em>:<\/p>\n
Jerusalem stands in the life of our Lord as the place where He reached the climax of His Father\u2019s will. \u2018I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent Me.\u2019 That was the one dominating interest all through our Lord\u2019s life, and the things He met with on the way, joy or sorrow, success or failure, never deterred Him from His purpose. \u2018He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.\u2019 The great thing to remember is that we go up to Jerusalem to fulfil God\u2019s purpose, not our own. Naturally, our ambitions are our own; in the Christian life we have no aim of our own. There is so much said today about our decisions for Christ, our determination to be Christians, our decisions for this and that, but in the New Testament it is the aspect of God\u2019s compelling that is brought out. \u2018Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
From The Discipline of Dismay<\/em>:<\/p>\n
At the beginning we were sure we knew all about Jesus Christ, it was a delight to sell all and to fling ourselves out in hardihood of love; but now we are not quite so sure. Jesus is on in front and He looks strange. \u2018Jesus went on before them and they were amazed.\u2019 There is an aspect of Jesus that chills the heart of a disciple to the core and makes the whole spiritual life gasp for breath. This strange Being with His face set like flint and His striding determination strikes terror into me. He is no longer Counsellor and Comrade, He is taken up with a point of view I know nothing about, and I am amazed at Him. At first I was confident that I understood Him, but now I am not so sure\u2026 When the darkness of dismay comes, endure until it is over, because out of it will come the ability to follow Jesus truly, which brings inexpressibly wonderful joy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Give up control; fix your eyes on Jesus; run with perseverance; don\u2019t turn back. Be victorious!<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said to me: \u2018It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.\u2019\u201d Revelation 21:6-7<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026 let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.\u201d Hebrews 12:1-3<\/p>\n
\u2018The Two Towers\u2019 by J. R. R. Tolkien, Houghton Mifflin Company, \u00a91954<\/em><\/p>\n
\u2018My Utmost For His Highest\u2019 by Oswald Chambers, Dodd, Mead & Company, \u00a91935<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As Frodo Baggins and his loyal companion Samwise Gamgee pressed on through their dangerous quest in J. R. R. Tolkien\u2019s story, \u2018The Lord of the Rings,\u2019 they had this exchange: \u201cI don\u2019t like anything here at all,\u201d said Frodo, \u201cstep or stone, breath or bone. Earth, air, and water all seem accursed. But so our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-perseverence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3683"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3687,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3683\/revisions\/3687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}