Distractions

 I went hiking a little bit ago. I hiked a trail in the Superstition Mountains that is called Flat Iron by some, and Siphon Draw by others. It's a steep and treacherous hike, but the summit is a very large mesa, the sides of the mesa are very tall cliffs. It makes for a great view and it's worth the climb. My cell coverage was spotty and so throughout the entire hike, I had not been receiving texts or calls. Once I reached the summit, however, my phone began to "blow up" with missed texts. Because I had left my younger children with a sitter, I wondered whether or not the texts concerned them and I allowed myself to become completely distracted. Unknowingly, I had continued to walk while checking my text messages and as if the spirit said, "look up dummy!" I quickly looked up and shockingly realized that my distracted steps had walked me dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. I was surprised at the stupidity of the situation. I imaged the headlines that would have surely made national news, "stupid girl walks off cliff's edge, glued to phone". How had I allowed myself to become so distracted that I had put myself in near peril?

I thought about how Satan is the great distractor. How often do we allow ourselves to be distracted from those things that matter most. How often do we heed those luring voices of the world that lead us away from our course that leads to eternal life in the presence of God the Eternal Father? Slowly, step after step, if we do not look up, those distractions walk us into dangerous territory, where our eternal vision is clouded and we lose sight of our eternal potential, for we have grown numb to our eternal self-worth. All that matters becomes the here and now. 

When Peter focused on the Savior, he found that he could do the impossible. He could walk on water! He was undeterred from the storm that waged on around him. But, eventually Peter became distracted from the storm-tossed sea and lost sight of that focus. Consequently, his faith diminished, he was overcome with fear, and as he began to sink, he cried out to his Savior, "Lord, save me!" The Savior then reaches down and lifts Peter from the water. Likewise, as we focus on those things that lead us to Jesus Christ, we yolk ourselves to His infinite power to save. We remember that our self -worth has eternal value, that we are literally the offspring of God. And, because we are His children, we have the potential to gain all that the Father hath--through the merits of His Son, Jesus Christ, and His ability to save. We remember our purpose and why we were sent to this fallen world in the first place--to learn and grow, to repent and have joy, to walk a covenant path that leads us back home where we can gain our eternal inheritance.