The Hobbit Who Found His Courage

In The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, there is a moment in the Mines of Moria where Frodo whispers to Gandalf, "I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened." Gandalf's reply has echoed through countless sermons since: "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 us."

Frodo never asked to carry the Ring. He was a gardening hobbit who loved second breakfasts and fireworks. Yet the burden fell to him — not because he was the strongest or wisest, but precisely because he was small enough to bear it with humility.

Many of us feel the same way about our calling. We look at the task before us and think, "Surely someone more qualified should handle this." But the Almighty rarely calls the equipped — He equips the called. Jeremiah protested that he was too young. Moses stammered. Gideon was the least in his family.

Your purpose was not assigned by accident. The God who knit you together in your mother's womb placed that specific burden, that specific gift, in your specific hands. You do not need to be mighty. You only need to be faithful with the time given to you.