Let me share with y'all a little anecdote- imagine there's a door in front of you. It's a way to the other side which beholds all sorts of goodies. As you open the door, there's something behind it that won't make the door budge. The door reveals but a vertical beam of light, emanating at your side. You put some more effort to pushing the door open, but it is "apparently too hard for you." Because of this unknown resistance, you abandon the entryway, giving up, and move on to the next door. You leave behind a door, partially open, yet too small for you to even squeeze through. Next thing you know, you leave 5 more doors the same way.
Back in the day, when I about five years old, my mom signed me up for all these activities-- basketball, ice skating, baseball, soccer, bowling, track, golf, musical instruments, etc-- because I wanted to. I would have fun with friends and enjoy the things I would do, but quite frankly, I wouldn't take these things rather seriously. Because of it, I never put the effort to follow through on these things-- when the going went tough, I got going-- and moved on to another fun-looking thing to do. All of a sudden, I'm out here "in the real world" and I see all these different people seem to do so well on a wide array of activities like the things mentioned above. I thought to myself, "hey, I can do that (i.e. cello-playing) pretty well! Maybe I'll join in!" Let's just say it didn't end so well. Everyone who played was in some sort of regional symphonic orchestra while I had quit my class because "the teacher was crazy." A humbling experience, I realized the importance of hard work and diligence-- no matter how tough things get.
Now let's look at an example of how one may overcome such unknown resistance. In the book I just so love to mention all the time, The Book of Mormon, there's a group of wicked people-turned-righteous people called the "Ammonites." They made a promise with God that they wouldn't fight anymore because of the terrible things they've done while doing so. As a result, their enemies, the Lamanites, didn't have too much trouble slaying them. As these Ammonites start dying, they ask that their kids go off and fight their enemies for them-- they were taught righteousness by their parents and had not made that covenant with God, it was okay for them to go fight. God gave them the okay, and these teens and young adults were on their merry way helping their allies fight the enemy. These 2000 kids went off to war to defend a land that was in jeopardy of getting run down by a countless force.
First time out, these 2000 kids were lead by a man named Helaman when the Lamanites were chasing them down. Their allies were struggling, on the verge of defeat, when Helaman asked the 2000 kids if they wanted to fight or flee. These kids answered an emphatic "fight" because they said that "God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth" (Alma 56:46). With determination midst an uncertain circumstance, these kids and their leader went to a battle-hardened enemy, not fearing death, and fought. With hard work and diligence, the 2000 kids, inexperienced in warfare and martial tactics, managed to defeat the Lamanites and suffer not a single death.
They had pushed the door open with all their might; they got to the goodies. If we work to get to the other side of that door, we too may be able to excel in whatever we might do. Even if it may be harder than we can bear. God doesn't put us here to fail. As long as we do our part, He will do His part to help us succeed.
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