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.
Fellowship of the Ring
I cannot even count how many times this conversation between
Frodo and Gandalf has permeated my thoughts.
I understand how Frodo must of felt.
Fate had sent him on a mission that He would not have chosen for
himself. He was stuck in a place that he
did not want to be. He had enemies
seeking to destroy him. He did not know
what the outcome of his quest would be.
No wonder he felt the way he did.
But Gandalf in all of
his wisdom understood what Frodo did not:
We cannot control what happens to us, but we can control how we respond
to it. Spiritually speaking, we cannot
choose God’s calling on our lives, but we choose how we answer that call.
I love, though, how Gandalf states it, “All we have to
decide is what to do with the time given to us.” Ah, time.
How precious this gift is. For we
know not how much of it we have, and once it has escaped our grip, we can never
lay our hands on it again. So we have to
make the most of the time given to us!
When we moved to South Carolina, I honestly thought I’d live
here for 3 to 6 months. That was over
two and a half years ago. And now that
we are leaving this place in just a couple of days, I feel like I have no
time. Where did it go?
One thing that I know for sure is that God has worked
mightily in these two and a half years.
He has grown and stretched us, and taken our faith to a whole new
level. He led us to a counselor, who
helped us find some much needed healing.
He allowed me to revisit my past, confront it, and move passed it. We have forged some lifelong relationships
with people who have lifted us up in prayer, encouraged us, and walked
alongside us in this journey. We
desperately needed this time as preparation before our “Quest for Eleutheria.”
But I would also like to think that our being here has made
a difference in the lives of others. God
told us before we came that he would give us opportunities to help others while
we were here, but I really didn’t know what He had in mind. In fact, my attitude was this: “Okay, Lord,
show me what I must do, so that I can do it and hit the road.” I’m sure He just shook His head, and thought,
“Boy, you have no idea.”
Well, as we began reconnecting with old friends and meeting
new ones, I found that my story resonated with many of them, and that their stories
resonated with me. Just like the dear
people in Traverse City, these folks were searching for more. Some of them needed to find healing. A few were in bondage to sin and needed to be
led to freedom. Others were discovering
in their own spirits that there was more to the Christian life than what they
were currently experiencing, but they really did not know which direction to
take in order to find it.
When someone began to share their life’s journey with me, I
knew that God was up to something really big, and that He had brought us here
for such a time as this. He has given us so many opportunities to help people
navigate through some pretty rough waters.
A man paralyzed by doubt and fear because of a deeply rooted father
wound. A couple burned out by
ministry. A man who needs to be delivered
from the bondage of pornography. A
couple trying to break the bonds of legalism.
Each one with a story. Each one
finding deliverance through Christ. It
is amazing and humbling. Nothing, absolutely nothing, excites me more
than helping someone discover freedom, than leading someone down the path that
leads to a more abundant life. I would
not have traded this time for anything.
Thank you, God, for
sending us here. Thank you for the
mighty work you have done in us, and the mighty work you have done in the lives
of others through us. Thank you for the promises that you gave us when we moved
here. I am so glad that you sent the “ring”
to me, and help me make the most of the time given to me.
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