I love stories and analogies. I remember one about a man who is walking down the street and falls into a hole. He couldn’t get out. A doctor passes by and the guy shouts, “Hey you, can you help me out?” The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down into the hole, and moves on. Then a priest comes along and the guy shouts up to him, “Father, I’m down in this hole. Can you help me out?” The priest writes out a prayer, throws it into the hole, and moves on. Then a friend walks by. The man in the hole sees him and shouts, “Hey Joe, I’m down in this hole. Can you help me out?” The friends jump in the hole. Our guy says, “Are you stupid? Now we’re both in this hole!” His friend says, “Yeah, but I’ve been down here before and I know the way out.”
Taking a step back, preparation is one of the most important things we do. We wear seatbelts in case of a possible accident, take vitamins to prevent a possible illness, and go to a checkup at the dentist to prevent cavities. We don’t leave our homes without prayer, we read scriptures, we wear helmets. There are even warnings on medications to prevent possible reactions. The list goes on and on. We can prepare for everything our minds can think of. But, sometimes, things still go wrong. When it does, how do we respond?
So, back to the analogy of the man in the hole. Is it fair to say that he fell into the hole because he was unprepared? Probably not. Did he wake up and make a plan of what to do in case he falls in a hole today? Doubtful. We can prepare for anything and everything, but from time to time, we still need God to help. And he will send people to jump into that hole with us and guide help us out.
I have a friend who’s a coach. He prepared his team with fundamental drills and for any unusual situation he could possibly think of. But the part he was the happiest with was how his team was trained mentally. These high school boys read books on positivity, leadership, and drive. They enjoyed coming to practice because, in their words, “They didn’t just learn about the sport but life itself.” This approach was highly successful and they went all the way to the state championship. He told me at that game that the referee was making some questionable calls that derailed their plans. His team had to keep playing with very unsettled emotions. This was an unforeseen situation neither the coach nor the players had considered. Instead of plowing back into the game, the new situation got the better of them and they lost. As disappointing as the loss was, he told me, “I believe it was still a win”. He said his team got the opportunity to understand that life isn’t predictable—we can’t prepare for every possible outcome.
That’s why it’s important that, amidst all of our preparations, we put God first. If we rely on our own preparations rather than keep our faith in God, we completely miss out. There will be catastrophes in our lives, illnesses that take away our independence, and betrayals we don’t see coming. We will lose jobs we desperately need and encounter loss throughout our lives. But there is one thing we can count on, and that’s Him…every time. If we have more faith in ourselves than in the Savior, we will lose every time.
I am not knocking preparations! I rehearse and rehearse and rehearse…but I still make sure we all have prayer before every show.
He is our light in the storm, our path when we’re lost, and our hope when we can’t take another step. I know this because I’ve been to this abyss. Reading about him daily has been a great source of strength for me through the years. I hope your scripture reading is going well. I promise studying the life of our Savior will prepare us for anything and will be life-altering. I know that we can try to prepare for every scenario but, in the end, the time spent studying the life of the Savior and then following His life and example will be the best investment of time we will ever make.
Here are the next few weeks of the reading schedule I am following for those that have joined me:
January 16–22: John 1.
January 23–29: Matthew 3; Mark 1; Luke 3.
January 30-February 5: Matthew 4; Luke 4-5
February 6-12: John 2-4