[greyhavener]

I tend link God's will with the statement: "because it is the right thing to do" rather than because "everything will be all right in the end (of course, this depends on what you mean by the end)."

Throughout their journey Frodo and Sam had no idea whether they would accomplish their task and how this accomplishment would effect their individual lives, the Shire, or Middle Earth.

The information they did have:
Failure to destroy the ring would result in losing Middle Earth, the Shire, their lives.

Success would also result in changes they might not want, like the elves leaving.

This information came from Gandalf and the Elves, sources they trusted and believed were good.

Sauron was evil and powerful, but could be defeated.

They trusted Gandalf and Gandalf thought mercy was important.

That was about it. I think they acted both out of the urgency of the errand and faith in the sources that sent them on it.

Sometimes doing the right thing results in pain, like Frodo's wound that wouldn't heal. In the Bible Hebrews 11 lists faithful people who encountered disappointment and even death. They are commended for battling evil but they aren't bailed out of the misery that results from the choices of evil people. It simply says "the world was not worthy of them." It also says "they had not received the promise." This is the same book which begins "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

I think Tolkien may have held with this sort of hopefulness in the unseen and uncertain. Frodo and Sam acted out of faith in the good of Gandalf and the Elves. They didn't have a vision for the future so much as an intense belief in the necessity of their quest regardless of its outcome. Frodo did not expect to survive it. I see this as the same motivation that drove the saints in Hebrews 11.

Within Christianity there is a broad range of understandings about what predestination means and to what extent it exists. There have been some excellent discussions of this on some other threads. I think since Middle Earth is not only pre-Christian, but pre-Hebrew, the myth Tolkien presents is perhaps a consistent portrail of his theology within the context of those who "had not received the promise" or even knew what it was. While forces like Eru, Valar, Maiar are at work, every character continually chooses his course.