Why is the quest to follow Christ so difficult at times?
In fact, it is more difficult the closer we come to Christ. The harder we seek—the more aware we become of our inadequacies. As the weaknesses flood in, the feelings of impossible over take and we can easily feel that the quest is too difficult, and the destination impossible. Pasts start to make their way to the present and we find ourselves swallowed up in hopelessness.
…and then we open the scriptures to the awesomeness of God, who is full of hope and love. We are not our pasts, and our present weaknesses are part of the journey home. The more humble we become the more sensitive we are to the gentle teaching of our Heavenly Father, who desires for us to become all that we are. Though we may not fully understand what that means, he does! He knew us before and is completely aware of our eternal potential.
Ether 12:27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
When we look at Ether’s simple verse, we can see with open eyes and mind the truth of our short-comings. They are but obstacles to overcome, they are steps in a ladder to climb, or hurdles on a track to jump. These weaknesses don’t make us less, they help us become more! As we overcome one at a time, another weakness is always waiting to aid us in our growth.
Exaltation comes the same way for each individually who lives now, who ever has lived, and who will ever live—-it’s one step at a time. One obstacle overcome. One hurdle jumped. Each weakness, when approached with courage and determination becomes our greatest gift, for Christ promises to make our weaknesses strengths—when approached with faith and humility.
Then comes my favorite part—His grace is sufficient throughout the process. It’s not a one time try and then all is lost. It’s a try and try, and try again—until that hurdle no longer exists on your path to eternity. Though this process at times can be exhausting, it is also invigorating when we see the full picture of what is actually happening. If we can keep the end goal in mind and realize that it’s a process that will bring infinite blessings.
Every Olympian has spent countless hours developing their skills. They have been frustrated to the point of wanting to quit when they couldn’t overcome a technique that was keeping them from their perfect performance. Every math scholar started with the basics. Every doctor sacrificed the social activities of their peers so that they could pass the test. Every parent has held their crying child after a failed test, crashing on their bike, or during a relationship break up.
“Failing is an essential part of the mortal phase of our quest for perfection. We don’t often think of it that way, but that is only because we tend to focus too much on the word perfection and not enough on the word quest. . . . Failure is an inevitable part of the quest. In our quest for perfection, how we respond when we fail will ultimately determine how well we will succeed.” -Kevin J. Worthen 2015 BYU devotional
Exaltation is the ultimate goal—to be embraced by our loving Heavenly Parents, and to know that we worked hard, stayed faithful, and most importantly—we got up every time we fell!
“You were created “that [you] might have joy,” joy you will feel when you worthily return to your Heavenly Father and your Savior and step into Their warm embrace….Your loving Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, live. They know you. They love you. They lovingly invite you to take your next step toward Them. Don’t wait. Take it now.” -Randall K. Bennett October 2015
-Written by Sherri Jorgensen
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