Riding with the King

I love blizzards. Mostly because they give me a great excuse to watch Lord of the Rings and pretend I'm a hobbit stuck in my hobbit-hole home with nothing but great stories to reflect on and good food to eat.

Basically, what I'm saying is that I really enjoy Lord of the Rings. The movies are great and I'm currently reading the books. I've reached "The Return of the King" and the point of build up to the great Battle of Pelennor Field. As I've been reading, I've found some things about the hobbits that make me smile and give me courage.

In short, hobbits are simple beings with no desire to do much more than enjoy life's simple joys, those being all the comforts of home. The Lord of the Rings stories might be well explained by simply saying that some hobbits get snatched out of their comfortable, joyful homes to play their part in the great days of their world. 

One of the hobbits is Meriadoc Brandybuck, from whom I have found a great but small message. Merry, as he is called, has been separated from his closest friends and is with the people of Rohan, horse-masters who are on their way to aid in the great battle. Their King is Theoden, and Merry is his squire. Hobbits like Merry do not grow to the size of a man, rather they are more like dwarves in size. Thus, he cannot ride one of the great horses of Rohan, but has a pony to ride on.

In the story of Merry, he and the soldiers of Rohan are riding to another point in their journey. He is amongst them all, riding with the King and his soldiers. It then says, "Sometimes where the way was broader he had ridden at the King’s side, not noticing that many of the Riders smiled to see the two together: the hobbit on his little shaggy grey pony, and the Lord of Rohan on his great white horse."  

That small line made me stop reading for about 10 minutes and reflect on our relationship with Jesus. We may not be mighty or strong, big or powerful. Instead, we are small and simple, not being able to do the great works of the King. Yet, our King allows us to ride with him, side by side.

Hopefully this can give you some small measure of joy, courage, and hope today. Whatever battle you ride into today, you're with the King. Jesus is mighty and his kingdom is our home.