Part of a speech  well known among  The Lord of The Ring fans, some of these words were spoken by Aragorn before the last battle in front of the Black Gates as he saw the men riddled with fear, and as they were being surrounded by countless orcs. There is a very specific reason I chose those words as the title for my very first blog. First of all in their correct context, they were used as an inspiration for the men to stand up and fight regardless of the outcome that day. Second because these words have a whole new meaning for me today than they did over a decade ago when I first saw the film.

Currently I am facing perhaps the darkest moment in my life so far. I am in the middle of an unwanted divorce; one which I was forced to file for many reasons I will not elaborate on today. As I saw my marriage fail, praying daily for a different outcome and taking responsibility for my part in this; I realized  that the brokenness of this world is consuming all that we may hold dear to our hearts, slowly or very quickly (depending on where you stand to look).

“An hour of Wolves”; what does that mean today?  In Acts 20:29-30 Jesus says “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.” As I see what is arising in churches all across this once great Christian nation, I dare say I see the wolves as plain as daylight. Men are preaching “prosperity gospels”, preaching “love the sinner and also advocate their sin as love”, being politically correct instead of theologically sound – because today politics is more important than God’s own Word. I had a conversation with a woman who claimed to be a youth leader at her Church while also claiming to be liberal-pro-choice and an LGBT supporter! How could this happen?! How could we go from preaching God’s Word as truth- lovingly, to preaching love outside of God’s Word? A person very dear to my heart told me as I inquired about the doctrine of his Church, that he did not know the doctrine but that the Pastor was laid back and non-strict! What a sad day for God’s church to be labeled in such a manner. And yet Jesus knew and He warned us. If we are not studying God’s word in the Holy Bible as truth, and daring to live according to it, then we have indeed lost our courage and will be given to “false prophets, who come to us in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves” Matthew 7:15.

“Shattered shields”; in the Lord of the Rings movie Aragorn, with his sword drawn, talks about the time of wolves and shattered shields and then bids the men of the West to stand and fight for all they hold dear; Ephesians 6:16-17 tells us “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, which with it you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one…And the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” It is interesting to me how our faith is portrayed to protect us and the Word of God is portrayed as one of the most powerful weapons used in a time that pre-dated guns. This is in no way a coincidence. There is truly awesome power that flows down to us from the Lord if we seek Him how we were originally meant to!  So I ask myself why we place our trust in anything other than the True weapons we are to be using daily. Our shields are indeed shattered due to our lack of faith and we no longer wield the Sword of truth (the Word), because we don’t know it, and we don’t take the time to study it. We, as TRUE Christians, must come to understand that no amount of political correctness, “love” in the context it is used today, guns, tanks or other will ever suffice to protect us outside of God. We must understand that in the end, God is the only power that controls the armies of heavenly host; coincidently “an army more deadly than any that walk the Earth”!

Have we reached a time “when the courage of men fails?” Don’t get me wrong, there are many men still out there that know how to wield the weapons God has given us. They are fearless to protect their wives, their families, their congregations and then some from the darkness that prevails the world today. But their numbers are dwindling; there just doesn’t seem to be enough of them. 2 Samuel 10:12 “Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to Him”. Psalms 31:24 “Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait on the Lord”. Too often I meet or talk to women who their men (though described as good, and kind, and great providers), are neither waiting for the Lord nor fighting battles for their families. They are too complacent where they lie to move outside of their comfort zone. Many of us women long for the leadership our husbands were meant to give us (as they are led by Christ so they must lead us), but instead we find ourselves constantly on our knees crying out to God for the courage to fight for our men and children as we see them succumb to the vices and addictions of the world. It is a sad state to be in, single mothers, broken wives… and yet another phrase from LOTR comes to mind “Those without swords can still die upon them”. We are daughters of the King Most High, Shield Maidens of Christ; we must continue to fight and find courage within Christ.

(Look for my next blog “Shield Maidens of Christ” a history of women warriors and how to become one of them…)