Of hobbits and trusting in God

A few weeks ago, my roommates and I hosted a potluck and the theme was "Hobbits." We made rabbit stew, friends brought "lembas bread", mushrooms, and ale, and we listened to the soundtrack of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. It was a nerdy and enjoyable evening. Throughout the evening, the following quote from the Fellowship of the Ring came to my mind. It's something Bilbo Baggins said to Frodo.

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."

 

The road outside my front door...

And of course it's a poignant quote because Frodo does step onto the road, and he ends up being swept off into the most incredible adventure in literature. The thing is, the Lord of the Rings is about more than just Frodo. It's about a battle between good and evil. And Frodo and the rest of the Fellowship are not particularly heroic. They are simply courageous enough to fulfill their purpose in this battle.

I think following Jesus is kind of like that too. When you start following Jesus, you don't really know where you'll be swept off to. But there's always adventure. And we need to be courageous enough to step onto the road, to trust God to use us in this adventure. 

Lately I have been thinking about trusting God. I was able to catch a bit of the Nova Scotia Inter-Varsity retreat this past weekend and there was some teaching about Genesis. The story of chapters 1-3 of Genesis is heartbreaking. First God creates the world and it's perfect. Unblemished. And he creates two people and they have perfect community with each other and with God. And did I mention they live in a beautiful garden? Except there's this one thing: God sets limits. He says they can eat from any tree in the garden except for one. Later, a serpent comes along and basically says "Did God really say that?" Well, the people eat from the tree, and they die. Here's the thing about this story: the people ate from the tree because they doubted God. They did not trust that he had their best interest at heart. And since then, people have had a tough time trusting God. I certainly do. But God knows me even better than I know myself. He knows what is best for me. But sometimes what I think is best for me conflicts with what God thinks is best, and I am ashamed to say I often go with what I think is best. Like the story in Genesis, it does not end well.

So here I am, trying to be swept off onto this road of following Jesus, and trusting God to take me on this wonderful adventure.

I sing this song as a prayer:"Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders."

And right now, I am getting to learn how to trust God a lot more. Like planning a 24-hour of prayer event on campus. Like entering a contest to go to Cameroon (Vote for me here if you haven't already. Thanks!). Like trying to figure out what to do next year. Oh, it's a dangerous business, going out my door.