f you know me very well at all then you already know that I am a huge fan of J. R. R. Tolkien’s works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. My son Joseph and I actually read The Hobbit together when he was young, but if you’ve seen the size of The Lord of the Rings book you will understand why we didn’t tackle reading that one together. We are both also huge fans of all the movies based on the books and I have since introduced my youngest child, my daughter Georgia to them as well. There are definitely a lot of scenes she has not watched but she has seen enough to begin to appreciate them herself. I guess neither of them had much of a choice as they are some of my favorite movies and my usual go-to when I want to relax, when I am tired and need a break, or when I am feeling emotional. And since I feel all these quite frequently, we watch the movies quite frequently.
In the last few weeks I slowly watched all six of the movies and as I watched one of my favorite scenes between Sam and Frodo (LOTR) I was once again moved by the words of the young hobbit Sam. Frodo is exhausted and ready to give up the fight and Sam encourages him with a beautiful speech that moves me every time I hear it. He talks about the “great stories” “the ones that really mattered” and how dark times got and how you almost didn’t want to know how they ended “because how could the end be happy”. He reminds Frodo that “even darkness must pass and when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer” and tells him that the people in these stories “had lots of chances of turning back only they didn’t because they were holding on to something.” Tired and battle worn Frodo asks the question that we all ask sometimes. He wants to know what we are holding on to.
Sam’s answer, “That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.” I think this strikes such a chord in my heart because I have been there myself. I have been there when it seems as if all is darkness and the battle is unending. I have been there when it seems as if I just simply could not take another step. I’ve had times myself when I wondered if things would ever get better and if the ending could ever be happy. I’m sure we’ve all had those moments when it seemed as if all hope was lost and we didn’t know if we had the strength to go on. It’s in those moments that we must make a decision. We must decide what we are holding on to. We must decide what, if anything, is worth holding on to; we must decide if there is anything worth holding on to and worth fighting for. And the ones who find something worth holding on to, they are the ones that make it.
Sam assures Frodo that there is some good in this world and it is worth fighting for and that helps Frodo to summon the courage to stand once more and decide to press on. To be honest as I watched this scene recently, I thought to myself that the “good in this world” seems to be in short supply. I rarely watch the news anymore, preferring to get my news from sources that I feel I can trust but I still find that I am daily bombarded with bad news and stories that break my heart. Honestly, if you watched much news or read very much on social media, you could quickly become discouraged and feel as if there really isn’t much good left to cling to. But as I considered this, I realized a sacred truth that gave me hope to cling to. There is still “some good in this world” because the Spirit of God is still alive and active in the hearts of every believer in this world.
As long as the Spirit of God dwells within the hearts of His people there will always be some good in this world worth fighting for. As long as we have God, there is always, always hope! I know because I have seen this truth play out in my own life. I have been in moments so dark that I thought daylight would never come. I have been in battles that I thought would be the end of me. I have doubted that anything good would ever come from all the evil that surrounded me. I have felt the stinging blow of the enemy’s sword as he pierced my heart time and time again. But by the grace of God I am still here; I am still fighting. The wounds, though deep and incredibly painful are slowly healing and I am finding that the sun does indeed shine again at the end of a long dark night. I am finding that there can be happiness, even in the midst of pain and heartache, there can be happiness again.
I am learning that there is something worth holding on to and that something is the fact that God loves me and that He is going to bring something good out of all this. Even when I can’t see the good to hold on to, I know that I can hold on to Him because He is good. I love what Lysa TerKeurst said in her book It’s Not Supposed To Be This Way. She said she reminds herself of three things. “God is good. God is good to me. God is good at being God.” Those are truths you can cling to when you can’t find something good to hold on to. When you can’t see the good, hold on to the One who is always good. When you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, cling to the One who is the Light. Take it from someone who knows; the sun will shine again my friend. No matter how dark the night, daylight always comes again. The sun will shine again my friend; the sun will shine again.
And when you can’t seem to find the good, and trust me; we all find ourselves there at one point or another; you need to find you a Sam. We all need a friend like Sam in our lives! We all need someone to speak truth to us when we can’t find the strength to look for it on our own. We all need someone to remind us that the battle is worth fighting and that ultimately, we will find joy again. We all need a Sam to lift us up when we can’t pick ourselves up. I know just how important it is to have someone in your life like this. There have been so many times when the pain was too deep, the sorrow was too great, or the battle was just too much, and I have needed someone to pick me up and help me to fight again. Those precious friends that have prayed for me when I didn’t know what to pray, that have shared Scriptures to help me press on, are the greatest of blessings!
My friend, I hope you have some friends like that. I hope that you have a few Sams in your life that know how to lift you up in prayer when you need it. I hope you have a few Sams in your life that know how to encourage you just when you need it most. I hope that you have found a few Sams that know the answer is found in the Word of God and share Scriptures with you when you need it most. I cannot tell you how many times I was encouraged by receiving a Scripture from someone just when I needed it most. We all need a Sam to not only encourage us but to understand us and remind us where the answer lies, where the hope is. I hope you have at least one Sam in your life, and I also hope that you know how to be a Sam to someone else. I hope that you are learning to encourage your friends when they need it and I hope that you know how to pray for your friends.
We all need someone to pray for us when times get tough and unfortunately, we all go through tough times. In the book the scene between Frodo and Sam goes a little differently than the way they portrayed the scene in the movie. In the book Sam tells Frodo that had they known from the start what they were going to face, they probably wouldn’t be there. He tells him that the people in the great stories didn’t exactly choose the “adventure” they were in and that they had actually “landed in them” as “their paths were laid that way”. But these people didn’t give up and that was why we remember them. As I read these words, I related so strongly to them because I have said many times in the last year that I would not have chosen this as my story, but I wouldn’t change it now even if I could. Oh, there are days I wish I could change some things but honestly, I wouldn’t if I could.
How many of us would choose the “adventure” we have found ourselves in? How many of us would be where we are in this moment of time if we had known from the beginning we would end up where we are? Those are definitely some tempting questions to ponder but we must be careful not to hasten to change our story. First of all, we don’t know the whole story so how could we say we would change it, when we haven’t seen the end yet? If you read the Bible you will find that the Author of our story writes some pretty amazing stories. I am sure that He can be trusted to write a beautiful story for you my friend! Maybe there are a lot of things we wish we could change but the truth is that all of the lines of your story are important. Every detail has led you to this moment right here and has made you the person that you are today. It has all led you to this moment in time.
Maybe your story hasn’t gone the way you wish it would have. Maybe you don’t like the chapter you are in right now. Maybe you have a lot of chapters you wish you could just erase. My friend, I don’t know what your story has been like up to now, but I can tell you this. There is some good in it and it is worth fighting for. And starting right now, you can begin a whole new chapter! There are so many pages left to be written beloved, and with God’s help you can still make it a beautiful story. I don’t care who you are, what you have done, or what your past looks like; God can still write a beautiful ending to your story! There is still some good left to be written into your story and it is worth fighting for; don’t you dare give up my friend! Hold on to His promises and fight for the good my friend. Hold on to Him and He will write a beautiful ending to your story.
I hope that as you have read these words of mine that somewhere in them you have found a little ray of sunshine peeking through reminding you that “a new day will come”. It may be hard right now but my friend, “It’s only a passing thing, this shadow.” The darkness will pass and things will get better. “A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out all the clearer.” Now isn’t the time to turn back; now is the time to hold on my friend! “For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, ‘Fear not, I am the one who helps you’” Isaiah 41:13 (ESV). Hold on to Him and keep fighting my friend. Trust me; it’s worth fighting for. Trust Him and let Him write your story for you. Hold on to Him, keep fighting, and wait for the sun to rise again my friend. Don’t give up my friend, you didn’t know it, but you my beloved, are one of the “great stories”!
Katrina Douglas
