Facing Challenges Lord of the Rings style

The Balrog made no answer. The fire in it seemed to die, but the darkness grew. It stepped forward slowly on to the bridge, and suddenly drew itself up to a great height, and its wings were spread from wall to wall; but still Gandalf could be seen, glimmering in the gloom; he seemed small, and altogether alone: grey and bent like a wizened tree before the onset of a storm.

I don't know what's more amazing the fact that amidst all that Gandalf didn't run away, or that that whole paragraph is only three sentences long.
What I really like about this is the imagery. You can really see it can't you? This huge, great creature with giant wings, and then this little, old, wizened man. Wizened by the way is just something that's old and shriveled, kind of means what it sounds like.
As I said before Gandalf didn't run away. When there was adversity he took it full on, he meet the challenge no matter how great it seemed. We need to be like Gandalf. We need to accept challenges even if when we face them we look like wizened trees before the onset of a storm.
However, unlike Gandalf, we don't have to face our problems alone. When we are faced with the darkness we have the greatest light within us. With that power we are able to conquer even the deadliest and darkest of foes.
Now there is another problem we come across when facing challenges, like the ones the entire Fellowship of Ring faced in Lothlorien.

All of them it seemed fared alike: each had felt that he was offered a choice between a shadow full of fear that lay ahead, and something that he greatly desired: clear before his mind it lay, and to get it he had only to turn aside from the road and leave the Quest and the war against Sauron to the others.


This one's only one sentence, however long or short it is, it does contain a powerful message and The Choice.
Everyone makes The Choice sooner or later in life. The Choice is simple, follow your own heart and desire and do what you want to do and forget about everyone else, or to go where you don't want to go, against your desires to fight the enemy.
Some of you might know this, others may not, but I will tell you regardless, and that is, you are in war. Not a battle. Not a fight. But and all out war, and it's right here. It's right where you are. It's all around you, everywhere. You cannot escape it. However, you can refuse to fight.
The war is for souls. The soldiers are you, God, Satan, angels and demons. Like I said you can't escape it, and you can't play ignorant, (especially because I just told you it's there) but you can not fight. You can sit in your little corner of the world, enjoying your own pleasures and comforts while the people around you are hurting and dying.
As I said you can follow self or you can follow God. You can do what you want, or what God want you to do. You can sit there, or you can fight. You can grab a hold of what you desire and leave the war to the "others", or you can stand up and make the darkness tremble, even though it's terrifying and you're small. You can give in to the easy path of living for yourself, or face the challenge, go against yourself and fight, even though it's harder. It's The Choice.
Choosing to fight is not going to be easy. There will be times where you'll think "What am I doing?" and you'll want to go back, just like Frodo and the fellowship did. But if you keep going on, keep fighting like Gandalf in the toughest of situations, then you will have defeated one of the most challenging things of all. Better yet, you'll receive a reward for it.
So face up to the challenge like a Gandalf and don't give up in the darkest of circumstances. Also, stand up to the challenge in leaving your selfishness and fight against the darkness that surrounds this world.