I love walking at my Layton City Park, because of the ducks and the squirrels. I walk on the sidewalk and there are all these lines right in between the different sidewalk sections. When I look down, I get caught up and focused on not stepping on the lines as I walk. I notice my feet and the exactness of my step as I try to stay on the squares and avoid the lines. “Step on a crack, break your mother’s back”
It feels like I can’t help it. It’s just kind of funny but it’s what I do.
BUT, when I look up, I don’t even notice that the lines are there. I see the sky and the gorgeous trees and ducks and all the beauty surrounding me and I don’t care if I step on a crack.
So I was thinking about this in terms of the gospel —when I’m trying to stay within the lines and do the exactness of the gospel- the rules of the gospel, it seems hard. That’s where my focus is, but it’s not on Christ. When I look up, my primary connection is with Jesus Christ, and the lines are secondary and it doesn’t seem so hard.
Scriptures and Prophets constantly remind us to: Look to God and Live.
Why is it a challenge to consistently look up in our lives? Perhaps we lack the faith that such a simple act can solve our problems.
When the children of Israel were bitten by poisonous serpents, Moses was commanded to raise up a brass serpent on a pole. The brass serpent represented Christ. Those who looked up at the serpent, as told to them by the prophet, were healed with the promise “that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.” But many others failed to look up, and they perished.
Alma agreed that the reason the Israelites did not look to the serpent was that they did not believe doing so would heal them. Alma’s words are relevant to us today: “O my brethren, if ye could be healed by merely casting about your eyes that ye might be healed, would ye not behold quickly, or would ye rather harden your hearts in unbelief, and be slothful … ? “If so, wo shall come upon you; but if not so, then cast about your eyes and begin to believe in the Son of God, that he will come to redeem his people, and that he shall suffer and die to atone for [our] sins; and that he shall rise again from the dead.”
Our world today is often characterized by fear and anxiety—fear of what the future might bring for us. But Jesus has taught us to trust and “look unto [Him] in every thought; doubt not, fear not.”
When I’m walking and only looking down, my walk feels endless and monotonous. When I look up my perspective changes, the time flies by, my thoughts are lifted and I feel energized.
Life is good. And life is Hard. Pres. Camille Johnson said , “It’s going to be hard. You can do hard with Jesus or you can do hard alone. When you do hard with Jesus Christ, the hard becomes Holy.”
I have noticed this in my own life. I was thinking of a past hard time when looking up helped me to get through it and turned it holy.
When my daughter was six years old, she fell from a 6 foot height straight onto her head onto a wood floor and cracked her skull open. This is our only daughter that we prayed for and longed for after having four sons and then at age 40 we adopted this beautiful brown baby girl. Laila has my whole heart.
The night Laila fell is the same night I was supposed to be leaving on an airplane to meet Wayne in China, instead I ended up having our daughter life-flighted to Primary Children’s Hospital as we were told she might not live. Wayne was stuck in China and I was all alone overnight in the intensive care unit- Just praying, and crying,endlessly praying that God would see my girl and help us through this difficult time. Somewhere in the night. I had this thought that it would be OK if God took Laila. I was just grateful to have had six years with her as her mom. I turned it all over to God and I was at peace. It was such a hard time, but truly what got me through was looking to Christ and knowing that His will would be done and I would be OK with it. Things were not going well.
Wayne was stuck in China trying to get a flight home. The doctor told us that if Laila made it through the night, she would most likely be living on machines for the rest of her life and her quality of life would be very diminished.
She did make it through the night and the next time the doctors checked her they said wow, her cracked skull and bleeding on the brain are gone…she has made great improvements but she’ll probably be here in Primary Children’s hospital for about four months to help her learn to eat, talk and walk again.
And the next time the doctors checked her, they said, " Wow, she continues to improve, but she’ll probably be here in the hospital with us for about four more weeks just so we can monitor her.
And then, miracle of miracles, four days after the accident, we were released from the hospital, with Laila told to just take it easy and she could start back in school in a week. This happened just as Wayne was able to get off his return flight from China. It took him 4 days to get home…in China 4 is considered a very unlucky number– and it was for him…. But I believe God wanted it this way for me …I learned a lot.
This experience taught me so much because I felt physically alone through it. In the past, I had my Wayne right by my side to lean on, but through this hospital stay, I only had Christ to lean on. I had a constant prayer going on, and it really built my testimony and my faith, and helped me to see that I could go through hard with or without Jesus, but because I looked up and went through it with Jesus, this situation became holy.
We all have hard things in our lives. Days when fear and anxiety seem to take over and pull us down. I testify to you that in our hard we need to Look to Christ and live. He will redeem us and heal us. The hard won’t automatically be made easy…but going through it with Jesus Christ you will feel better, more supported, more cared for, more loved…more holy.
I am grateful for the sidewalk that I walk on each morning as I go see the ducks; I'm grateful for the covenant path that's in front of me, and I know my walk is more beautiful when I look up.
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