“And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.” (D&C 84:88). I don't think we always appreciate the full significance of Christ going before us. Before any of us or our parents or grandparents for twenty generations were even born, Jesus Christ suffered for every sin, pain, illness and setback that any of us would experience. Essentially, Christ lived each of our lives from beginning to end before we were ever born. Shouldn't that knowledge help us to trust Christ more? It's not just that He knows what's best for us in some abstract, all knowing way, but He actually walked every step of our lives before we did. When He says I know this is hard but I know you can handle it, that's not just an educated wish on His part. He was there, over two thousand years ago, when we actually triumphed over our weaknesses and sins. He has seen and lived the end from the beginning. When we chose the right path, He was with us. When we chose the left path, He was with us. I know that Christ wants the best for us and He can guide us through all of the really difficult parts of our lives because He already did it, all while feeling all of the weakness and fear and doubt and despair that has dogged us every step of the way. When we choose to follow in Christ's footsteps, those are not the footsteps on some idealized perfect path that leads away from our own life. When we follow in Christ's footsteps, they are the steps in our own life that Christ walked as He went before us down our own specific path that is uniquely ours. I hope we will all learn to trust a little more the one person who knows exactly what we have been through and exactly what lies ahead for us and can show us the very best path.
