“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and 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.”
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1)
Simply stating that these are crazy times would be a disservice to what can sometimes feel like a heavy burden as we consider what is happening around us.
This is not a note about end-time theology at all. However, I can guarantee that some people will speculate that I am addressing whatever political party they feel will solve all their nation’s problems or whatever end-time theology they stridently pledge their allegiance to.
Nevertheless, at the time I write this, October 2024, anyone reading this went through 2020. Some of us did okay, some of us caved into fear, some of us put our heads in the sand, and some of us rose to the challenge and made a difference.
Today, I came across the above quote from JRR Tolkien, and it resonated with me. God nudged me, reminding me that I have a choice- to simply exist in this time or to actively make a difference.
Today, God challenges you to consider: are you actively contributing to a positive shift in the atmosphere in the region where you live, or are you waiting for someone else to champion your cause?
It is not by accident that you were born to be alive this very day. Go forth and advance the kingdom of love, grace, and hope today. You have the power to shape the world around you.
You were born for such a time as this. God says to you, “Are you continuing to hide your light under a bushel of fear, suspicion, and self-preservation?”
As Mordecai said to Esther when she was faced with the grave decision to either retreat into self-preservation or step forward in courage to save her people, “The fact is, even if you remain silent now, someone else will help and rescue the Jews, but you and your relatives will die. And who knows, you may have gained your royal position for a time like this.” Esther 4:14
©2024 Katherine Walden