“With daily obedience and refreshing living water, we find answers, faith, and strength to meet everyday challenges and opportunities with gospel patience, perspective, and joy.” -Gerrit W. Gong
While running in college, our coach was big on hydration. At the beginning of the season we were all given a water bottle. If she saw us around campus without our water bottle the whole team had to deal with her lecture. She knew how important it was for us to be prepared for our races. We ran a 5k, in the Arizona heat, without opportunities for water breaks. She wanted us to have enough built up hydration that we could withstand the heat and the physical depletion without dehydration issues. I was always amazed at how our team never seemed to suffer the severe consequences that come from lack of water during our races. Other teams would have girls pass out, not finish, and even leave in the ambulance. I remember early in the seasons thinking that she put too much emphasis on drinking. We were all doing our best, yet she never quit preaching the importance, and enforcing the action of it. Sometimes I felt that she was more concerned with our hydration than our actual training.
It didn’t take long for me to understand. It really doesn’t mater how well trained you are, if your body breaks down from dehydration, there is no amount of training that can compensate. Even the best runners, collapse. I was thankful for that training, and benefited from her persistence in helping me to stay hydrated throughout the season. We faced some really difficult cross country courses, with little shade, huge hills, and burning temperatures. Yet, we were ready to endure these conditions, we had prepared for these tough races.
Now today, 27 years later, I am just starting back on a running routine. I am surprised how much better my runs are when my route takes me through areas that I can grab a drink from a drinking fountain. Without those periodic stops, my runs quickly become sluggish, and I have a hard time finishing.
Alma 34:32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.
This is exactly the same as our spiritual lives. Christ is the living water, the strength we gain from following Him, studying His scriptures, and seeking His guidance through prayer, is what will sustain us through the races of life. If we prepare adequately on a daily basis, when those tough times come, we will have plenty of spiritual hydration to get us through the hot, hilly courses of life. Sometimes we may wonder why daily prayer and scripture study is necessary, or why we need to follow everything the prophets tells us. Those questions answer themselves when trials hit us, and we are either prepared with enough faith and trust to stay standing strong or we collapse and fall in despair and frustration.
“When the winds blow and the rains pour, they blow and pour on all. Those who have built their foundations on bedrock rather than sand survive the storms. There is a way to build on bedrock by developing a deep personal conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ and knowing how to receive inspiration. We must know—and know that we know. We must stand spiritually and temporally independent of all worldly creatures. This begins by understanding that God the Father is the Father of our spirits and that He loves us, that Jesus Christ is our Redeemer and Savior, and that the Holy Ghost can communicate with our minds and our hearts. This is how we receive inspiration. We need to learn how to recognize and apply these promptings.” -Allan F. Packer
We all have times in our lives when we are stronger than other times. We all have times of complacency. Just like with my running, trying to get back in shape so that I can just have the strength to train is hard, let alone get back in race shape. During this time, I am in need of water after short durations of running. This is important to remember as we build our faith and trust in Christ. We need steady, frequent supply of spiritual nourishment. It’s those little daily acts of hydrating our spirits, that will ultimately prepare us for the difficult times in life.
“The steady drips of water sink deep into the ground and provide a high moisture level in the soil wherein plants can flourish. In like manner, if you and I are focused and frequent in receiving consistent drops of spiritual nourishment, then gospel roots can sink deep into our soul, can become firmly established and grounded, and can produce extraordinary and delicious fruit.”
Continuing, he said, “The spiritual pattern of small and simple things bringing forth great things produces firmness and steadfastness, deepening devotion, and more complete conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ and His gospel.” -David A. Bednar
Trials are not the only type of race that we are hydrating for. We need to hydrate for courage and virtue. As we prepare daily the adversary will have no effect on us, for we will be prepared to recognize his lies, and turn immediately away from them. We will also be ready to lead by example, and help others along the way, so that the race is full and the finishers great.
Imagine that championship finish photo! How great will that be when all our friends and family are at the finish, standing strong!?
My good friend had the privilege of driving one of the general authorities to the airport after he came to their city and talked in a regional conference. On the way to the airport, her husband asked him, “What can I do to help my children?” He told them to read the Book of Mormon everyday as a family.” My friend’s husband responded with a positive reaction, because their family does that, but he added a few excuses of why “every day” doesn’t always work. The apostle then repeated himself with a gentle strength, “Read to them EVERY DAY!” As my friend was telling me this story, she really emphasized to me the importance that they felt about the every day part. The excuses weren’t good enough, they needed to be steady and consistent. The general authority had seen enough to know that we need to be hydrated every day, because we don’t know what course our next challenge will be on, we don’t know how hot, or humid the temps will be. We need the living water of Christ to be running through our veins on a daily basis, giving us the ability to withstand whatever conditions we must face, at anytime.
Growing up, I remember my dad studying his scriptures every day. He loved them. Now looking back, I understand fully, that he depended on them for the strength to carry on. It’s not an easy course, to provide for the emotional, physical, and spiritual needs of twelve children. There was no way on earth that he could do it on his own. The best part, he didn’t try to do on his own either. He wasn’t willing to try it alone, and not have the strength he needed in the end. Trying to get his teenagers to fall in love with the scriptures wasn’t easy. I remember him waking us up at 5:30 so that we could all be together as a family to read the scriptures. He would hand out copies of the Book of Mormon to each of us, and we would sleep until it was our time to read. With patience he would tell us what verse we were on. I am sure he was frustrated and felt that all his efforts were in vain. However, he never gave up on us. I believe he knew the strength that the scriptures gave him, and he was determined to give us that same strength.
He would also encourage us to read on our own, even if we didn’t feel like reading, he would tell us to open the Book of Mormon and run our fingers on the pages. He taught us the power of the Book of Mormon, and he told us that if we did that every day, we would soon have the desire to read a little, and then a little more, until we developed the habit of daily study. Then we too would be able to lean on the Savior during hard times, because we would have that hydration that our spirits needed.
“Life’s journey is challenging. It’s easy to be distracted, wander off the path, and get lost. Tribulation is an inevitable and indispensable part of our eternal progression. When adversity comes, don’t let something you don’t fully understand unravel everything you do know. Be patient, cling to truth; understanding will come. Trials are like great mists of darkness that can blind our eyes and harden our hearts. Unless we are “continually holding fast” to the word of God and living it, we will become spiritually blinded rather than spiritually minded. Search the Book of Mormon and the words of the living prophets every day, every day, every day! It’s the key to spiritual survival and avoiding deception. Without it, we are spiritually lost.” -Kevin W. Pearson
-Sherri Jorgensen
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