Till We Are Home

We all need some help from time-to-time. We need a champion to spur us along, someone to shoulder burdens, someone to encourage us to put one foot in front of the other. 

Nerd alert: I’m about to reference Lord of the Rings. You’ve been warned. 

I’m in the last 100 pages of Return of the King for the “whatever’th” time to read this series. And…it doesn’t get much better than Samwise Gamgee. He’s hilarious, he’s quotable, he’s solid. Sam is a friend we all wish we could be to others and wish we all had. 

I won’t give away any spoilers – though if you don’t know the story of LOTR, then shame on you – but as Sam and Frodo walk through Mordor in their attempt to complete the mission given to Frodo, Frodo finds himself extremely burdened and worn down. The One Ring continues to weigh heavier and heavier on Frodo and he’s reaching the point where his strength is zapped and his hope waning. 

At one point after a relatively short rest, Sam tells Frodo it is time to keep moving. Frodo responds with the following, “’All right, Sam,’ said Frodo. ‘Lead me! As long as you’ve got any hope left. Mine is gone. But I can’t dash, Sam, I’ll just plod along after you.’”

When I read those words from Frodo, I was taken back to seasons in my life when I was worn down, crushed, and in despair. The weight of the season I found myself in was grave. Like Frodo, I didn’t have any hope left. Like Frodo, I couldn’t muster the strength to find my way or move forward. 

By God’s great grace and mercy, He provided the blessing of others to help me like Sam did with Frodo! My wife, my children, and some dear friends made ways to act like Sam to give me their hope, to help me get up, and help me plod along behind them. 

And the Bible speaks the same about true friendship; here are some examples:

“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow.” (Ecc 4:9-10a)

“A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (Prov 18:24)

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (Ps 133:1)

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (Jn 15:12-13)

We need good, solid, godly friends as we walk through this life. We need to be good, solid, godly friends who walk with others through this life. We need and need to be a friend who lifts his fellow up when they fall, who sticks closer than a brother, who dwells together in unity, and who would willingly lay down their life for their friends.

We need a Sam who will see us in the valley of life’s troubling days to offer us a hand, bring us hope, and shoulder our burden for us. And we need to be the Sam to others.

Dear reader, I don’t know where you are in your life right now. I don’t know if you’ve been blessed with solid friendships in your life or if you are walking through a season where that seems scarce. If so, I’m sorry…I truly am. But, I think you can at least make the choice to be the Sam to someone around you. Look to where the Lord has you and who the Lord has around you, make strides to get to know others more than just on the surface, ask more questions about them than talking about yourself, and find ways to be the Sam to them.

Life may not always be a walk through Mordor, but I’ll bet most of us will at least have one walk through Mordor in our life. And even in other seasons of our life, it may be more like a walk in the middle of the day in August in Texas (which is nearly like Mordor), but nonetheless, we need a friend to help us through. Be that friend, be that Sam…and I hope you can find one, too…

Till we are home…