Enduring not Racing

"Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfast faith in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have Eternal Life."
-2 Nephi 31:20

Life is not a race, but a test of endurance.

One of my favorite memories was running the St. George Marathon.  It was 26.2 miles, and I ran it in 4:12:56.  It was my first marathon and it was quite an achievement, especially my time.  I spent a little more than a year training for this event, running 25-30+ miles a week including 5ks, 10ks, and an occasional half marathon.  It was long, it was hard at times, But it was fun, it was worth it and I am proud of that accomplishment.  Some things that helped me finish my marathon were: Pacing myself, Thinking Positively, Encouraging or serving others, and being Diligent to the end.  I like to see life as another marathon and these four ideas can help us in our "race" in life.

Pace (balance) yourself
To often people get caught up in life.  Everything is at a constant fast pace.  This will usually causes people to disregard certain things which would be of the most importance.  When you don't have a proper balance you will get frustrated and worn out.  A proper balance will include: Family, God, Prayer, and daily scripture study.  Properly balancing yourself will place peace in your life.  It also makes frustrations easier to handle.  (Mosiah 4:17) If I would have sprinted the whole marathon on what training I had, I most likely would have quit at mile 5.  When we are constantly hurrying about life and trying to get everything done at once our own "stamina" would eventually break and then we become bitterly frustrated.

Think Positively
In Matt. 5:12 it says, "Rejoice, and be exceeding(ly) glad: for great is your reward in heaven".  God doesn't want us to be gloomy and sad.  We have much to look forward to.  In a marathon negative thinking will slow even a well seasoned runner down.  I've noticed that when I'm feeling whiny I am really slow.  Life doesn't seem to have much of a purpose when I'm depressed.  When I'm happy I have a ton of energy and I can plow right through obstacles.  It is the same for everyone. So be happy!

Serve Others
I've been told the best way to shoo gloom out the door is by service.  When I serve I feel good.  When I ran my marathon, I would do everything I could to encourage the people I past to keep moving forward.  When I did that I forgot how sore I was and made a few friends on the way.  When we reach out a serve those around us we brighten our day and help lift up the heads that hang down.  I can guarantee that life will mean so much more when you use it to help others because "when you are in the service of your fellow beings you are in the service of your God" (Mosiah 2:17, Matt 25:40).  We can be God's hands on earth and help them find joy in their trials.

Be Diligent to the end!
There is a point where most runners hit a point where they just want to give up.  This is often called a wall because that's what it feels like; hitting a brick wall.  There will be times where we will hit a "wall" in our life.  Times where we feel like we can't go on.  Balance, Optimism, and service is a continual process.  There will be times where you hit a "wall" and you just want to say, "I've had enough, this is to hard."  Don't quit.  God has told us to "be strong and of good courage (Joshua 1:9." Life is not an eternal torment, it is to help us grow.  God gave us difficult experiences for our good, we just need to press forward with faith (D&C 121:7-8, 122:7).  When I crossed that finish line I felt like I had accomplished a great task, and it felt good.

The end is always there, and worth the trial.

Life is going to be hard, but who said it couldn't be worth it?  Just like I felt proud of my accomplishment after that 26.2 mile test of endurance we will feel great joy knowing that we came, saw and conquered our trials with high heads.  Our reward is a great reward, more than we can imagine.  All we have to do is press forward with faith and God will reward with eternal life.

To the peak of Angel's Landing

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always, lest ye be tempted by the devil, and ye be lead away captive by him." - 3 Nephi 18:15

One of my favorite hiking spots in St. George is in Zion's National Park.  It is called "Angels Landing" and is the highest point in Zion's.  At one point of the hike you have to go over a thin trail head that is a straight drop on one side and a slide on the other.  The very ground you walk on is slippery sandstone.  Your only support is a chain that is chain that stretches along the trail.  This is a obstacle you must cross in order to make it to the top.  Many are deterred by this and do not reach the top.  When I made it to the top the first time I was deathly afraid of heights.  I couldn't get within ten feet of a ledge without turning white and running away.  My scout troop wanted to go to the top, and I did not.  One of my leaders offered me some words of encouragement and the troop had a group prayer before beginning our assent.  Almost instantly my worries were put aside.  Once we reached our major obstacle I had no fear at all.  I could look right over the cliff edge and have not an ounce of fear.  My heart still beats rapidly when I get close to the edge but it has never bothered me since that time.

One prayer was all I needed to help obtain the courage I needed to complete that hike.  I know it was not me.  I still hate heights but that one time I was never bothered by that fear.  What is so special about prayer?  Prayer is our two way communication with God.  In our journey through life God has given us a way to go through our trails with out being blind.  Just like on the trail to the peak of Angel's Landing, you are going to encounter trials and obstacles that will make you want to turn back.  All you have is a narrow pathway for you to travel on, and it appears that you may slip and fall.  BUT, you have a chain to hold you in place, you have prayer to hold to a solid and firm foundation so that you don't go anywhere.  Life will be challenging, you might slip at times, but you will not fall.  Because you have God to help keep you on the straight and narrow path YOU will make it to the top.  In Matt. 21:22 it reads, "whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall recieve." (see also 1 Nephi 15:11)  In our trials we can ask God for faith and give it to us.  He will only give us things that will benifit us.

Now I've saved the best for last.  When you reach the top of the peak you get to enjoy a spectacular view of most of the park.  The beauty of the canyons just soaks into you wit colors of red, green and blue.  When we reach our ultimate goal, despite our obstacles that try to turn us away, we get to enjoy the joy that comes from obedience to God's commandments and we have something that will last forever.  Eternal Happiness.  (D&C 121:7-8)  God has promised Eternal life when we diligently strive to obey his commandments and that is the most rewarding part of life.

Stay where it is safe.

What does it mean to be complacent?  The dictionary defines "complacency" as: self satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers, or deficiencies.  In other words it is being comfortable with your situation even when your actions and activities could harm your body or destroy your Moral Character.  When someone is complacent they don't recognize the changes they need to make which can help them become a better person.  They are slowly, but surely, tearing down themselves.  To show a example of really bad complacency let's go to Petersburg, Virginia, 1864.

Petersburg was a nasty and long battle during the American Civil War.  It resulted in becoming a long and tedious siege.  Since neither side could move, they dug trenches and holes to provide protection for themselves to fortify their position so that it was even harder for the other army to drive them away.  This also provide desperately needed cover from enemy sharpshooters.  Anyone who would expose themselves from the safety of their trench would be shot at and most likely hit by a sharpshooter.  As time went on, the men would get comfortable with the shots constantly whizzing past them and would eventually begin to leave the saftey of the trench.  Eventually some of them were walking on top of the fortifications just daring the sharpshooters on the other side of the field to shoot them.  Many men died from foolish actions like this. Why?  They were complacent.  They were too comfortrable with their situation that they did not recognize the dangers confronting them.  They were ignoring common sense which was telling them, stay where it was safe.

Now we are not going to be shot at by someone with a gun.  Satan will always try to get us to leave our place of safety; or in other words, get you to disregard the commandments of God which will protect you from harm.  He is trying to get you out just a little bit.  Just like a well trained sharpshooter needs just a little portion to be exposed to hit his intended target, Satan only needs a little crack in our defense to get in.  We don't become comfortable with which is wrong immediately.  But when we continue in degrading and lowly activity we become comfortable and it becomes harder and harder to leave.  It's like putting a frog in a pot of boiling water.  When put in a boiling pot of water a frog will immediately jump out.  But put it in a pot of cold water and turn up the heat, he will become complacent and boil to death.  When Satan has a strong hold on us it hurts us.  It's like being boiled, it just eats you from the inside out and places you in a miserable state.  However, there is a way out!  That way is repentance and using the Attonment of Jesus Christ.

Christ can raise us out of our troubles

When we recognize that we are not living how God would want us to live, so that we can be happy, we are pulled out of the boiling water and cleansed from sin. (2 Nephi 31:10, 12-13)  We can also recognize the pot of water before we are put in and can get away.  Frogs are safe in ponds right?  Imagen the commandments of God like a pond.  You can't boil a pond right?  Well Satan cannot influence you unless you leave behind God's commandments.  God can help us recognize what is wrong because he won't let anything happen to us that we can't handle (1 Cor. 10:13).  Praying to God and keeping a prayer in our heart will make it so Satan will never be able to pull us down (D&C 10:5).  He wouldn't be able to touch you with a 297 1/2 foot pole.  So what we need to remember is to avoid the appearance of evil, pray always and use the attonment in our lives.  Most importantly, don't get comfortrable with sin, stay away from it.           

Additional Scriptures:

Matt. 16:24

Mark 1:17-18

John 8:12
1 John 1:7
3 Nephi 9:21-22
D&C 38:22

You are something Special!

It can be challenging at times to be different from everyone else.  At times we wish we could be like the popular people or be liked by everyone else.  We are each different, but despite those differences we are each unique in our own special way.  Being different is not a bad thing. It may appear bad, but can we all be 110% identical?  No.  Everyone has their differences and those differences help shape the world we live in.

 

There is a story I loved as a kid.  It is called "You are Special" by Max Lucado.  It follows a puppet named Punchinello, he lived in a community of puppets who lived together in a small town.  They were each created by a loving woodworker named Eli, who live on a hill overlooking the town.  Punchinello was a bit of an outcast.  Every puppet would give each stars or dots to judge each other.  He only was given dots, negative comments.  No matter how hard he tried he could never get just one star.  Punchinello was not talented, he couldn't talk right, and he was despised.  Everyone seemed to be in a hurry to give him a dot.  He began to believe that's all he deserved.  One day he met a puppet named Lucia who had no stickers.  the stickers wouldn't stick because the opinions of others didn't matter to her.  Her visits with Eli help boost her confidence in herself.

 

Punchinello pondered about visiting Eli.  Why would Eli care to see someone like him?  Finally he decided he should go and see him.  He was warmly welcomed by Eli.  Eli placed Punchinello on his work bench and noticed the noticed the dots that covered his body.  Punchinello explained why he had so many. Eli responded by saying that he loved him just the way he was.  He was there maker and didn't judge one because he lacked certain qualities.  He saw each puppet as a special person including Punchinello.  When Punchinello asked why Eli's replied, "Because you are mine. THAT is why you matter to me."  He even told him that the opinions of others will only stick if they matter. But if Punchinello loved Eli more than what others think, those opinions will no longer matter.  That is why Lucia had no stickers.  Eli promised him that if he would continue to visit him he will realize what he meant.  As Punchinello walked out the door he thought maybe Eli was right.  And with that thought, a dot fell to the floor.

God does not look at what others say to define you as a person. In fact only men look on the outside to see who someone is. God however looks at your heart (1 Sam. 16:7).  God knows you personally and sees you as important in a major way.  If you do not see it, you can surely know it!  We have been asked to be perfect, however we are not perfect (Matt 5:48, D&C 67:13). We are asked to constantly strive to better our lives to be in harmony with God. When we have a relationship with God and Jesus Christ, and trust in them, the opinions of others will have no importance to us.  We don't need to be in a constant struggle to be just like everybody else.  We are only asked to diligently go at our own pace (Mosiah 4:27).  Remember "slow and steady wins the race".  Even though you may be different from others, you can make a difference in the world because God knows you personally and knows what you can do.  Trusting in the creator's hand, and by praying to him, you can gain a greater relationship with him that is so strong that it won't matter what anyone else says about you.  Because you will see that you are unique; you will see that you are special!