Day 7 of 21 Days - A Promise Without Parallel

"Inasmuch as ye are humble and faithful and call upon my name, behold, I will give you the victory." (D&C 104:8)

In today's lesson the author gives an analogy of running a 10K race as a symbol for building a strong relationship with the Savior. She says:

"Paul the Apostle has counseled us, 'Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.' Heb 12:1-2 Each of us has been given the opportunity to run the race of life. We are given two guidelines as we run the race - to run with patience and to look to Christ. Running with patience suggests rhythm, pacing yourself, and being able to endure. Looking unto Jesus helps us understand we weren't sent to run the race alone."

I am not a runner. But still, this analogy works for me.
In 2001 I walked 60 miles in three days as part of the Avon 3-Day walk for breast cancer. Along with a little over 3,000 other people I went from Enumclaw, WA to Seattle. If you are at all familiar with that part of the country you will recognize there are some substantial hills between those two places. Also this particular walk was held in August, so it was really hot. It was a long, gruelling journey that taxed my endurance to its very edge. I spent months before hand training for this event and raising funds for the cause. Then, within the first hour after beginning the event, I had an accident. I fell.

Starting out on the walk I wanted to get a steady pace that I would be able to maintain throughout the morning. There were a lot of people filling up the road ahead of me that were going much slower than I wanted to walk. So, I tried to skirt around them. Keeping my eye on the horizon I did not realize that there was a rather abrupt drop from the edge of the pavement to a ditch below. There was tall grass that obscured the edge. When I stepped around the crowd of people I was trying to pass by my foot landed partially on the edge of the pavement and then slipped into the ditch. I seriously twisted my ankle and went tumbling down in the ditch, scraping my knees and hands.

After picking myself up and brushing myself off I determined that there was no serious damage other than a sprained ankle and some road rash. However, the prospect of walking for 60 miles in that shape was a daunting one. Several of the people around me encouraged me to give up. After all, I was injured. I couldn't really expect to keep walking with my foot like that.

I admit, for several minutes I did consider calling it quits. My foot HURT. However, I had a reason for doing that walk. My 25 yr old step daughter, Stacy, had died from cancer the year before. While her tumor had been in her chest wall and not her breast, the issue was the same for me. When she had been hurting she did not have the option of getting on the rescue van and calling it quits. I also thought of my sister-in-law, Donna, who had died from breast cancer some years before. I was not going to give up.

I teamed up with a couple from Detroit who stayed by me and encouraged me all along that long three day adventure. They comforted me when I was discouraged. They cheered me when I reached each incremental goal along the way. Step by step I stayed with it, and the victory in the end was so much sweeter because of the sacrifice I had made to get there.

In life sometimes, like that walk, we start out with grand intentions and then we fall. We find ourselves spiritually in a ditch, bruised and bleeding and sore. We can call it quits - bail out, get on the "rescue van" of abdicating our willingness to follow the path of the gospel. Or we can get up, brush ourselves off, and keep going step by excruciating step until we reach our goal.

Jesus Christ has given us many rich promises that if we will follow Him and endure to the end that we will be blessed. It isn't always easy to do what we know is right. The "natural man" quite often will make us want to quit. However, I know that through the presence of the Holy Spirit we will have the Lord's influence comforting and encouraging us on our path towards eternal life if we can just muster the courage to get up and brush ourselves off when we fall, to humble ourselves enough for true repentance and to keep going step by step.