The Hobbit Who Was Meant to Find the Ring

In The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, there is a quiet moment in the darkness of the Mines of Moria that speaks louder than any battle scene. Frodo, exhausted and afraid, turns to Gandalf and whispers, "I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened."

Gandalf's reply has echoed through the hearts of millions: "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."

Frodo did not choose his burden. He was a small, ordinary hobbit from a quiet village. He had no training for the task, no special strength, no army behind him. And yet Gandalf tells him that the Ring came to him for a reason — that there was a purpose woven into his story that he could not yet see.

How often do we sit in our own dark tunnels and say the same thing? "I wish this had never happened to me." But the God who knit you together in your mother's womb does not make accidents. As Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us, the Almighty declares, "I know the plans I have for you."

You may feel small. You may feel unqualified. But like Frodo, you were chosen for this moment. Your only decision is what to do with the time given to you.