Gandolf's Wisdom

I recently sat down and watched the first episode of Lord of the Rings. It was a bit like sitting down to a cup o coffee with an old friend. I hadn’t watched it for years. I still am taken aback by the profound wisdom in Gandalf’s advice to his young hobbit friend Frodo…
Frodo: I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
Gandalf: 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. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.
Ever wonder about the "other forces at work in this world"? I’ve been wondering about them lately. I’ve been keenly aware lately of just how vulnerable we are to the attacks of forces beyond our sight. Thankfully the forces that pulsate behind the scenes are not just dark ones but they are also from the light and good!
I remember someone once told me that we too often act like its peace time in the middle of war time...and I believe there is a significant amount of truth to this statement.
We forget that there are forces beyond our line of sight and this can be to our own discouragement. If we forget then we can be under attack and unaware or we can also miss the forces that are at work for our encouragement which we so desperately need.
As the Apostle Paul wrote... we wrestle not against flesh and blood...
The problem can also be that we just wrestle not! Period! We skip along whistling in the dark unaware of forces both bad and good at work in this world.
How about you... have you been wrestling lately or are you just whistling in the dark?
God is Good All the Time.