Sometimes, the journey of Lent toward Easter feels akin to the journey of the hobbits to Mordor—harsh, unrelenting, devoid of light. Life too can feel like this – a long road, the weight of it heavy. Like the barren lands of Mordor draining Frodo and Sam of their strength, we too can feel spent.
Yet hope was always there.
Samwise Gamgee, weary and worn kept just enough bread aside for the journey home. Even in the depths of his suffering, he had prepared for home. The darkness was not the end. Hope was present. There would be a return to the Shire, a resurrection of life.
Lent is not just a season of denial, it is also a season of preparation. The stripping away of excess reveals what truly sustains us. In the midst of our own struggles, we may feel as though we are at the end of our own strength, but we are never at the end of God’s. His grace is sufficient.
Like Samwise, we may find ourselves weary, uncertain, longing for the light to break through.
But Easter is coming.
This journey leads not to despair, but to the dawn of resurrection. And no matter how heavy the road feels at times, we are never walking it alone.
“I came to the end of my own hope, O God, and found that your hope held me still.”
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
The joy of Easter morning beckons us.
Blue Skies & Lollipops 