The Throne

The throne of God is untouchable, unalterable, universal, unshakeable, unconquerable, and unlimited (Norm Willis, 2009). How does this truth impact how we write fiction? As Pastor Norm has been highlighting the immense power of the throne the last few weeks, I was reminded of the story of Beowulf. In this Old English legend, Grendel, an evil bloodthirsty monster, hunts and slaughters men by the hundreds. But listen to this line from the beginning of the story: So Grendel waged his lonely war, inflicting constant cruelties on the people, atrocious hurt. He took over Herot, haunted the glittering hall after dark, but the throne itself, the treasure seat, he was kept from approaching” (Beowulf, 165-169). Even though Grendel is incredibly powerful, he is unable to come near the throne. The throne cannot be touched or changed by evil.
As writers we must remember that no matter how dark a situation is, good will always win. We are not in a battle were the outcome is unsure. We are sure that evil will be overwhelmingly conquered by good. It is only our perspective that needs to change.
Remember in the Lord of the Rings how evil appears to be an unconquerable force. Frodo, a tiny hobbit, must go on a mission that will most likely fail. While evil appears to be growing greater and greater, good is nowhere in sight. As Sam and Frodo crawl up the side of Mount Doom, it looks like they are about to fail. However, Sam in the face of despair still believes that good will win.
“It's like in the great stories, -the ones that really matter. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end, because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it'll shine out the clearer” (Tolkien, Return of the King).
In all the stories we write, we must remember that evil is always conquerable. The throne is untouchable. God cannot be changed by evil. So as we write we do not write from the perspective that God is battling against Satan and the outcome is unclear. We write that good will ultimately overcome evil. The battle is not over who will win but over who the characters believe will win. The battle is over perspective. If one of the characters gives up and decides that evil will win, they are right because through their lack of faith they have joined the enemy’s side. The conflict is not over the final outcome but over whose side we will be standing on when the story ends. If we choose to preserver we will be on the winning side.