Feeling Stuck? Tolkien Has a Word for You

Why Our Efforts, Mundane as They May Seem, Matter More Than We Realize

Once, J.R.R. Tolkien wrote a short story to work through his frustration with his writing, which he felt was going nowhere.

The story, Leaf by Niggle, tells of an artist named Niggle who is commissioned to paint a mural on the side of city hall. Niggle spends his entire career trying to complete this mural—a grand, colorful tree meant to inspire others for years to come. But despite his efforts, he manages to paint only a single leaf before he dies.

On the train to the afterlife, Niggle catches sight of a vague but familiar shape in the distance. He asks the conductor to stop, steps off the train, and approaches the image. To his astonishment, he discovers a full, magnificent tree—his tree—finished and more lovely than he ever imagined. And there, in the middle of it, is his single painted leaf, preserved for all to see. In the end, Niggle realizes that his small contribution was part of a greater, completed gift.

Tolkien wrote Leaf by Niggle as a way to process his frustration with another work of his—one he had spent years creating but feared would never be completed or appreciated. That frustrating work was The Lord of the Rings.

If only Tolkien could have known what we know now about his “unsuccessful” project. And if only we could know now what we will one day see about our own efforts—whether vocationally, relationally, personally, and spiritually—and how it fits into God’s plan to enrich and heal the world.

In those moments when you’re tempted to give up, to stop pressing on, or to downplay your efforts by saying, “I’m just an accountant whose numbers don’t add up, just a parent whose kids don’t listen, just a musician without a label, just a writer with few readers, just a pastor with a tiny and divided church, just a landscaper surrounded by weeds, just a praying person without clear answers or direction, just a disciple without visible fruit…”—I encourage you to consider Leaf by Niggle.

Remember not only the past, but also look toward the future, when the true significance of your life’s efforts—however small or stuck they may seem now—will be revealed as part of the greater tree that God will place at the heart of His City: the Tree of Life, bringing healing to the nations (Revelation 22:2).

It may be hard to believe sometimes that your efforts, done for God’s glory, have lasting significance. But they absolutely do. In their book Every Good Endeavor, Tim Keller and Katherine Alsdorf meaningfully explain the meaning of Niggle’s leaf and how it connects to our own stories today:

There really is a tree. Whatever you are seeking in your work—the city of justice and peace, the world of brilliance and beauty, the story, the order, the healing, it is there. There is a God, there is a future healed world that He will bring about and your work is showing it (in part) to others. Your work will only be partially successful on your best days, in bringing that world about. But inevitably, that whole tree that you see—the beauty, the harmony, justice, comfort, joy and community—will come to fruition. If you know all this, you will not be despondent that you can only get a leaf or two out of this life. You will work with satisfaction and joy.

These sorts of insights remind me that my efforts—whether I recognize their value or not, whether anyone else notices, appreciates, and applauds them or not—have a place in God’s larger plan.

Scripture assures us, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

We are also promised that every good work God has begun in us will be completed, whether it’s the work of becoming more like Jesus in character or painting just a single leaf when we dream of a whole tree. The God who is Creator, Restorer, Architect, and Builder of His Great and Everlasting City will be faithful to finish that work (Philippians 1:6).

And when it’s all said and done, He will look at us through the finished work of Jesus and say, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23).

The work you do now will carry on into eternity.

It’s a leaf on the Creator’s tree.

Take heart!