A couple of months ago, the Church posted a series of videos on its YouTube Channel. These videos focus on fighting pornograpy, teaching healthy sexuality to children, dealing with a spouse's pornography addiction and other related topics. I've listened to several of those videos and am quite favorably impressed. Each video includes comments, counsel and suggestions from apostles, general auxiliary leaders, past and present (Primary, Relief Society and Young Women) as well as from professional counselors and educators.
In one of these videos, a woman shared a personal experience which became an analogy for her that increased her understanding of how the Savior helps us face adversity—without solving or removing the obstacles for us.
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| "San Diego Rock-N-Roll Marathon on 2013-06-02 at 06-52-23" by Baboosh Photography is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 |
“I’m a marathon runner and recently I prepared for [a race]. And because it's a really small marathon, my husband, who is a cyclist, was able to bring his bike and support me all throughout the course. About mile 16, I hit the turnaround point, and I recognized I had to go all the way back. And all of a sudden, things got a lot harder. At about mile 20 there was this huge headwind that just hit, and it didn’t feel like I could go any further. I felt like I was stopped in my tracks. And before I knew it, my husband swooped right in in front of me on his bike, and he was buffering the wind for me. And when I gained enough strength mentally and physically to do it again, he rode off, because it wasn’t his race—it was mine. And it dawned on me that this is exactly how the Savior treats us. He can’t change the terrain, He can’t change the course; He doesn’t make it so the work goes away. What He does is He rides right in front of us to buffer us from the wind.”
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| "_DSC5529" by Reneau Frigon is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0 |
I loved both the visual imagery of the Savior out ahead of us, buffering us from the winds that we’re facing, and the reminder that it’s our race, so He can’t—or perhaps more precisely, won’t—take from us the experiences that are part of that race.
The individual course for my race was designed specifically to help me return to our heavenly Home having been shaped into the person He always knew I could become. This will come to pass not in spite of but because of the challenges I will face and--with His help--overcome on my journey. The same is true for you.
So when your energy is drained, your limbs feel like lead, and you can scarcely breathe for that stitch in your side, look to the Savior to be the buffer you need. His grace will help you catch your breath and muster the strength to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
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| From images.churchofjesuschrist.org |