This week, I have received many texts and voice messages from people I love asking me how I’m doing. I had that mean flu but I’m doing much better now…thank you!😘 So when I received this video from some of the champion kids at Children's Miracle Network, it brought tears to my eyes. They are so precious. These children struggle with enormous challenges yet they spent their time making a video to lift me. Each one of them touches my heart with their courage. They are my heroes!!! My worst day is nothing in comparison to their best day. 💖 I know my greatest joy is serving these children in our hospitals. I try to lift them but, as always, I’m the one who leaves inspired and strengthened by their positivity, courage, and abundant faith.
I have come to understand that empathy and understanding come after our own personal trials. But it is still a choice and requires having great faith in God and His gospel promises…especially in the darkest of times. Father in Heaven is there. God just waits for us to ask Him for strength and help. I have leaned on these words many times in my life.
John 16:
22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.
23 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it you.
24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
Last week, I gave a speech in Florida about mental health. A woman asked me why we have trials and why she felt like God’s way was so hard. I told her about a talk I had just reread by Lawrence E. Corbridge. He said,
“The Lord’s way is not hard. Life is hard, not the gospel. “There is an opposition in all things,” everywhere, for everyone. Life is hard for all of us, but life is also simple. We have only two choices. We can either follow the Lord and be endowed with His power and have peace, light, strength, knowledge, confidence, love, and joy, or we can go some other way, any other way, whatever other way, and go it alone—without His support, without His power, without guidance, in darkness, turmoil, doubt, grief, and despair. And I ask, which way is easier?”
We all have to decide what following the Lord is for us. And that takes time. When you read “Follow the Lord,” do you think it means we have to do it perfectly? That we just hop on the path and take off running? Does that mean we won’t stumble and fall occasionally? Does it mean we will never get lost, be rained on, or worse…be in need of chocolate!?
Uh no….
But we do need to GET on the path. I think it’s worth saying again, “get on the path.” That just means starting the journey. And while you are on the journey, God has provided some amazing reading material. He put that reading material together for us and then protected it for thousands of years. The scriptures are the GPS for life. It’s the greatest historical document to understand where we came from, who we are, human nature, and life‘s choices and consequences. It’s where you can read about parents who have had problems with their children (in case you thought you were alone), marriages that are often a trial, stories of betrayal, disease, wars, and every other difficult situation you can imagine. And while you are reading the scriptures, note that no one is perfect, and no one gets it the first time. I love reading the stories and putting myself into them, and I wonder if I would’ve made some of the same choices.
One of my favorite stories in the Old Testament is Jonah and the whale. God sent Jonah to Ninevah to preach the gospel. It’s documented that it was a very evil and dangerous place. Jonah wanted none of it, so he stowed away on a boat that he knew was going in the opposite direction. (ever done that?😆) Here is the deal, can we really hide from God?
Uh no….
After Jonah finally decided to obey God (along with being able to tell a really great “fish story”🤓), he ended up having great success with the people of Ninevah. Like many of us, Jonah was afraid, but God showed him he had nothing to be afraid of. So, in the end, Jonah’s disobedience didn’t end with a great fish story but with a great faith story. The Lord will always do that….He knows if and when we are going to fall down, and He always has a solution. He knows we aren’t perfect; He knows we will make mistakes… He planned for those mistakes.
His name is Jesus Christ, and He came here to atone for our sins, our pains, our sorrows, and our heartaches. We can succeed on the path because of our Savior. Keeping our eye on Him, every day, all the time….
Remember, life is hard, but life is simple. And when we get on the path…never give up. You never give up. You just keep on going. Because when we make the effort daily, the Lord is right there. His way is our “insurance policy,” if you will, our backup plan that leads to our salvation. So please don’t get discouraged or forget Jesus Christ is the Way, God’s way, and it’s not hard. Life is hard, not the gospel!
Here are the next few weeks of the reading schedule I am following for those that have joined me:
March 6-12: Matthew 9-10; Mark 5; Luke 9
March 13-19: Matthew 11-12; Luke 11
March 20-26: Matthew 13; Luke 8; 13
March 27-April 2nd: Matthew 14; Mark 6; John 5-6