Perspective

Sometimes you just have to look at the Big Picture.

I don't like my Tuesdays.

I wake up at 7, which is the earliest I have to get up during the week, I have to be to work by 8, I work until about 12:30, I immediately have to go to class at 1, that class ends at 2:50, next class across campus at 3 so I have to run, work again at 4, then I go see a movie for my film class at 6, finally getting home to do homework at 9.

That's Tuesday.

A friend got upset with me because I acted like I didn't care about seeing them. They told me I wasn't making our relationship a high priority in my life. Oh? Sorry that I have a job that you don't have that demands 20 hours a week and if I don't meet those demands I'll be fired. Sorry that I have homework assignments and papers to write that if I don't turn them in on time, I'm going to fail the class. It's not that I want to try and prioritize people or anything else, but there are things in my life that have detrimental consequences (fired, fail, etc.) that sometimes have to take center stage. Would I love to drop everything and hang out with people, but that's irresponsible.  I'm sorry my college friends but we have to look at the big picture. I came to college with the intent to learn and further my education. That's why I'm here and if I don't care about my education, then what's the point of being here?

Juggling Life

I have friends that like to send me on guilt trips when I choose homework over them. "You don't care about us" "Come on, it can wait" "What, do you not like us anymore?" These are words I hear all too often from multiple people. I'm sorry my dear friends, as much as I hate to admit it, I have adult responsibilities and I have to treat them as such. Funny thing is these same friends ask me "Dude, it seems like you never have homework, are you just lazy?"

Are You Kidding Me?

That's why my post today is about perspective. There is a big picture that we have to look at. There are things in life that by default have to take precedent over other things. Sometimes we have to look outside of the moment and look down the road and think "is this really worth it?" Sure I'd love to spend every night hanging out with friends and having a grand time, but if I have other things that need to be done, they need to be done first.

This concept stretches out beyond instant gratification. Many times, trials come upon us and we're left wondering "why is this happening to me?" We always seem to draw the attention to ourselves during hard times.  I am positive that God doesn't just sit in high heaven looking down at us thinking "lets put Alex in the hospital from a car accident, that'd be fun!" We are blessed to have a merciful Father in Heaven. So merciful in fact, that he allows us to go through hard times so we can grow and develop. Along with that, he never gives us more than we can handle.

"God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above 

that ye are able"

Sometimes, God has to cut us down to build us up, as Elder D. Todd Christofferson told in this story:

"President Hugh B. Brown, formerly a member of the Twelve and a counselor in the First Presidency, provided a personal experience. He told of purchasing a rundown farm in Canada many years ago. As he went about cleaning up and repairing his property, he came across a currant bush that had grown over six feet (1.8 m) high and was yielding no berries, so he pruned it back drastically, leaving only small stumps. Then he saw a drop like a tear on the top of each of these little stumps, as if the currant bush were crying, and thought he heard it say:
“How could you do this to me? I was making such wonderful growth. … And now you have cut me down. Every plant in the garden will look down on me. … How could you do this to me? I thought you were the gardener here.”
President Brown replied, “Look, little currant bush, I am the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be. I didn’t intend you to be a fruit tree or a shade tree. I want you to be a currant bush, and someday, little currant bush, when you are laden with fruit, you are going to say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down.’”
Years later, President Brown was a field officer in the Canadian Army serving in England. When a superior officer became a battle casualty, President Brown was in line to be promoted to general, and he was summoned to London. But even though he was fully qualified for the promotion, it was denied him because he was a Mormon. The commanding general said in essence, “You deserve the appointment, but I cannot give it to you.” What President Brown had spent 10 years hoping, praying, and preparing for slipped through his fingers in that moment because of blatant discrimination. Continuing his story, President Brown remembered:
“I got on the train and started back … with a broken heart, with bitterness in my soul. … When I got to my tent, … I threw my cap on the cot. I clenched my fists, and I shook them at heaven. I said, ‘How could you do this to me, God? I have done everything I could do to measure up. There is nothing that I could have done—that I should have done—that I haven’t done. How could you do this to me?’ I was as bitter as gall.
“And then I heard a voice, and I recognized the tone of this voice. It was my own voice, and the voice said, ‘I am the gardener here. I know what I want you to do.’ The bitterness went out of my soul, and I fell on my knees by the cot to ask forgiveness for my ungratefulness. …
“… And now, almost 50 years later, I look up to [God] and say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for cutting me down, for loving me enough to hurt me.’”

God puts all of us through difficult trials; a lost job, a death of a loved one, depression, doubt, fear. But he does it for our benefit and growth, and it's our job to remember the big picture. These things happen for a reason, we don't need to understand now, we just need to know that much, and it will be enough. We need to look past ourselves and remember that there's a bigger purpose to life than our personal desires.

The best part of all is that we all have a Savior who has felt our pains and sufferings with exactness to what we're feeling. I always thought that meant he felt every paper cut I'll ever get.  Now that I'm older, I realize that extends far beyond physical pain.  Jesus Christ has felt our emotional pain, our bad days, our heartaches, our heartbreaks, our despair, our doubt, our fear.  I know that during the darkest moments of my life, I've felt His arm around me, lifting me up so I can keep moving forward. We are never, ever, alone. There is always someone there to support us.

Lord, You said that once I decided to follow you, You’d walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why when I needed you most you would leave me.”

The Lord replied, “My son, My precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, 

it was then that I carried you.

AMS