Readjust Your Focus (A trip to middle-Earth)
I have a confession to make. Hello. My name is Christy and I am a HUGE Lord of the Rings geek. No, really. From *The Hobbit to the last, **Return of the King, I LOVE THEM ALL!! To me they are an allegory of the spiritual realm, the Christian’s battles and the Lord’s victories.
This weekend my honey and I were relaxing on the couch, watching The Hobbit for the... 100th or so, time. ;) As I watched I couldn't help but see some very interesting comparisons to the Christian saga. Let me set the scene for you… The band of dwarves are on a quest to take back their homeland that’s been taken over by the evil dragon, Smaug. (Sound familiar?) Alas, they have been captured by the goblins and taken to the grotesque goblin king, Gorkil. While being interrogated by Gorkil, one of the goblins pull out the sword of one of the dwarves and recoils as he throws it to the ground. When the goblin king sees what had scared the goblin so, he too, recoils in utter terror and cries… "I know that sword! It is the Goblin Cleaver!!" (That’s the name of that particular “sword.” Swords were named by their reputation in battle. I think that's pretty significant too, but that's a discussion for another post. ;)} Gorkil's fear was immediately replaced by rage, because he knew that, as its name implies, the sword had destroyed many of his evil citizens as they did battle against all things good, just or pure. Immediately, he commands at the top of his lungs and in fierce anger, “Kill them! Kill them all!! Cut off their heads.” Interrogation over. Sentence handed down.
One thing you need to understand here, is that these dwarves are warriors! They have won many, many battles against the evil enemy, but they are in a very dark place. Surrounded by thousands of the evils ones. The evil oppression so thick you could slice it with a knife. They’re disoriented, confused… probably scared. And now they’re about to die. Then suddenly, a brilliant light bursts upon the scene, with a great wave of power behind it, sweeping over the cavernous room, throwing all of the goblins backwards to the ground. ***It is Gandalf, their faithful leader. He’s come to their rescue… or has he? He doesn’t strike the enemy with blindness and allow the might warriors to slink away. He doesn’t kill the enemy straight out, for them. No, he commands to his small warriors, “Pick up arms and FIGHT!! FIGHT!!!!! Now nothing in the scene has changed. It is still dark in this desolate place. There are still thousands of goblin demons all around them wanting only one thing… to annihilate the dwarves. Still, the mighty little dwarves all rose with a battle cry, grabbed the swords that had been discarded by the enemy and started swinging!! And of course, they won the battle, escaped the enemy’s lair and went on to the next trial, the next temptation, the next battle, against the next enemy. What really spoke to me about that scene was the fact that after Gandalf had come on the scene and told them to fight, they were able to regain their footing, their swords and their courage, even though none of their circumstances had changed. WHY? Simple. Because they READJUSTED THEIR FOCUS. No longer were they focused on the hopelessness around them. No longer were they honed in on the enemy's threat. No… they became focused on their leader. They were encouraged by his presence. They were rallied by his confidence in their ability. “Take up arms and FIGHT!!! FIGHT!!!!” Maybe you’ve been in battle with the enemy and you have grown tired. You have become overwhelmed. You just want it all to stop. No longer is our dear Savior’s presence evident in your life. You’re ready to just throw up your hands and give in. It’s time to readjust your focus, my dear friend. Take your eyes off the enemy and focus on Jesus. His presence… “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5
His Promise… “For whatever is born of God {Christians) overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, OUR FAITH.” 1 John 5:4 His Power… For I am the Lord your God who take hold of your right hand and say to you, Do not fear, I will help you. Isaiah 41:13 As Jesus quoted scripture to dispel his advisory, the devil, in Matthew 4: 1-11, we too must swing our sword, our Goblin Cleaver, our Demon Annihilator, our Foe Beater, the Word of God and our enemies will flee. They have to. It’s been promised to you. “Resist the devil and he WILL flee from you.” James 4:7 WE must say no to the temptation over and over and over again until the enemy finally has to tuck tail and run as they say here in the south. You are overcomes!!! The battle is the Lord’s, the victory is ours as long as we keep our focus on our fearless leader and off the circumstances.
I leave you with one of my favorite verses of encouragement. May it and this post encourage you to refocus, start swinging and gain the victory on whatever battle you find yourself in right now, whether physical or spiritual!
"There is none like God, who rides through the heavens to your help, through the skies in his majesty."
Deuteronomy 33:26
If you'd like to view this scene, click the link below...
* The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1937
** The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1954
***The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17
Middle-earth is the imaginary world where The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings takes place.
