What is the purpose of a story? Why do we fall in love with characters that were born out of caverns of the author’s imagination? Why do the plots of the stories we love and the lessons of the characters we adore stay with us our whole lives? Why do we run to stories in an attempt to “escape” from our reality? Could it be that we are looking for something deeper? Something more than an entertainment story to help pass the time? I believe that every story is more than just entertainment. It has a lesson to teach, whether for good or evil. Every writer, every creator, has a message they are trying to convey. A point they are trying to get across. I believe that God can use anything to teach us a lesson. He can use any story (book, movie, or drama) to help us gain a new perspective and to look at life, and ourselves, in a way we did not see before. These are the lessons we can learn from storybook characters!
Frodo: I can’t do this, Sam.
Sam: I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.
Frodo: What are we holding on to, Sam?
Sam : That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.
I have felt a lot like Frodo the past year and a half. With each day that passed, the journey of life got harder and harder. The enemy’s attacks got harder to fight. He bombarded me on all sides. I watched as he attacked not only my life, but my home, my country, and everything I loved. Every day I awoke to continue the journey I knew I must, but with each sunrise and sunset the dark shadow drew ever closer. I began to wonder if it would ever be defeated. Would life ever be the same again? Would the light break through the darkness once more?
I was out of strength. Out of fight. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the ending of my story…because after all I had been through, how could it ever be happy? The enemy had me where he wanted me. He had me where Frodo was. And that is when Sam’s words jumped into my mind. A lightbulb turned on and the hope of Christ started to bloom once again from the ashes of the battle that tried to destroy it.
Have you ever stopped, looked around you, and discovered that you all of a sudden became like a character in a book or a movie? It may not look as you imagined it, but all the ingredients are there: struggles, danger, mentors, allies, villains, a fight of good against evil. We are each living, breathing stories. Each one is different, each one is designed especially for the characters in it.
Have you ever noticed what our favorite stories contain? We don’t tend to gravitate toward stories that are predictable, where all the characters are comfortable and nothing really exciting ever happens or goes wrong. Where is the fun in that? There is a reason that stories like The Lord of the Rings, Narnia, and Robin Hood have not faded into obscurity. We like adventure and danger. We like stories where the characters grow and learn and change. Those are the stories we keep going back to, the ones we quote often, and mean the most to us.
We all go through times of great darkness. Times when it seems as if the light will never win. We are in some dark days right now, and there are many more ahead of us. But in the darkest of nights, the light shines brighter…and even the smallest glow can be seen for miles.
After all the darkness we have seen over the past year alone, it can be very tempting to not want to finish the story, to think that there couldn’t possibly be a happy ending after all this evil…but Christians…we have good news! We know the end of the story…and we win! Even if we do not see our country or world restored to what it once was, even if we have to spend the rest of our lives on this earth watching things get worse, even if we do not see the results we fight for in our lifetime…we win!
Our King is the King of Light, and He is fighting for us every minute of every day. The king of darkness may seem like he is winning, but don’t be fooled. He knows the end of the story, he knows he loses…that is why he fights so hard. He wants to destroy every bit of light that he can and crush as many as possible in the meantime. Yes, it is hard, yes it is long, and some days seem hopeless…but in the end, it is all just a passing shadow. Even the longest night must come to an end and a new day dawn. And on that day, we will see the King of glory on His throne and He will banish evil and darkness forever!
“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have all passed away.” -Revelation 21:4
The road seems hard right now, and I will not sugar coat it and tell you that it is easier than it is. Nothing worth having is easy, and you appreciate things more when they are harder to attain. A cup of water is more welcome after a blistering hot day of work than it is after a day in a cool building, surrounded by water. The sun shines brighter and is a more beautiful sight after a long absence than it is in the middle of a cloudless day. If you are on the side of Christ, you are on the winning team…darkness cannot win over the light, no matter how hard it tries. As ambassadors of light, we Christians need to fight all the harder against it.
We have ALL found ourselves feeling like Frodo at one time…maybe even many times. When we do, remember the wisdom of SamWISE. We are now just like the characters in our favorite stories. We are at the crossroads and have the same chances they did. Will we give up and turn back? Or will we keep going?
Will you live a story worth reading? Will you refuse to let the darkness render you useless? Will you still hold on to the hope worth fighting for? The hope of Christ is not easily destroyed. He WILL destroy the shadow of darkness and a glorious new day will dawn beyond any we could imagine. We WILL win the war. It is up to each of us who will win the battle.
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33
Preserving Foundations 
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