Finishing the Race

It's time for the big race!  On your mark, get set, GO! 

The race is on, and there is one among them who stands out.  Tall, strong, confident, he has trained for this race for months (if not years)!  He is one of the best of the best!  He knows how to run!  A little while down the stretch though, he stumbles a little bit.  Does he stop?  Does he throw in the towel?

Of course not.  He keeps running!  A little while later his shoe lace is untied and he trips on it, slowing him down as he stops to retie it.  The other people are ahead of him now, should he quit?  No. It's a race.  You don't just give up in the middle from a little set back.  He picks himself up and keeps going with his all.

More time and more of the track passes beneath his feet and a stray rock trips him, this time his knee is skinned at the impact.  Well now he's behind and he's injured.  Surely that is reason enough to just let it all go and find something safer to do...like knitting.  It's too hard, it's too dangerous, it's more than he signed up for.  (Feel free to roll your eyes) It's not a good reason!  It's just a little scratch, he will finish the race!  This is what he has been planning to do, and he's going to do it!

He catches up a little bit and as luck would have it, someone in front of him trips, causing him to trip as well.  What is going on?  He had been training for this, didn't he know how to run straight?  He messed up.  He's imperfect.  He's not good enough.  Time to quit!  The inward pressure to just give up is mounting...he picks himself up and keeps going.  He finishes the race. 

Did he win first place?  Did he beat his previous time?  Probably not.  But that wasn't the point for him was it?  His point was to finish the race, and he accomplished it.  He goes home and begins again to prepare for the next race. 

There were a lot of little bumps in that race of his, but he didn't let them drag him down.  He just kept moving on because he know what his purpose was, and he had the determination and faith to keep going.  They were set backs, to be sure, but they weren't deal breakers. 

Our lives are a lot like that race.  We lived with God before we came on earth, and there we were taught and we prepared for life on here.  We knew what we needed to do to "finish the race" and return to live with God again.  Namely, faith in Jesus Christ, believing in him and following his example.  Repentance, changing and improving every day to become more like him.  Being baptized by proper authority and experiencing that renewal of life.  Receiving the Holy Ghost and learning to follow his promptings.  Enduring to the end without giving up.

There are bumps and obstacles in life that sometimes bring pain, but as we move forward with determination, they won't slow us down.  This life is bigger than a scrape or two.  A small stumble won't deter the runner from completing the race because he is fixed on finishing.  When we are focused on our end goal, living with God again, then the little challenges won't faze us.