As he set foot on the surface of the moon for the very first time, Neil Armstrong said, “That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” The hopes and prayers of millions around the world were with him as he took that one small step.
And think of all that went into such a giant leap for all mankind. How many millions of dollars were spent to make that one small step possible? How many countless hours from the best and the brightest scientists and engineers and test pilots and manufacturers from all over the world were poured into making this one moment possible? They literally moved Heaven and Earth to give Neil Armstrong the chance to take that one small step.
If we could only see the forces moving heaven and earth to help us take our small steps. When we are given those moments to exercise our faith and to set aside our pride and our doubts and we choose to take just one small step in the right direction, prayers from those who love and support us from both sides of the veil are answered. Think of it. All of those alive today that love and care about us enough to pray mightily for our success, together with every grandparent and great grandparent, father and mother, brother and sister, aunt and uncle, cousin, niece and nephew, child or grandchild that has passed away, all of them together are hoping and praying and rooting for our success, along with all of those spirits of generations who have yet to be born but nevertheless still love us and rejoice to see us take those small steps of faith. And let us not forget the single most important person that is praying for and cheering us on - our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ.
I know that it can be hard to take those small steps. So often we sit there frozen, warring within ourselves to do the right thing, wanting so desperately to pick up our foot and move it forward and yet utterly paralyzed by fear and doubt and an inconsolable hopelessness. We just don't have the strength to do it on our own. But we are not on our own. That small step is not only for us ourselves. The faith of billions has led us to this moment. Their hope and their strength and their love in and for us burns brighter than the sun. There are many reasons to doubt but many, many more to believe.
Like Elisha prayed for the eyes of his servant to be opened so that he could see the mighty host that was with them, I pray that the Lord will open our eyes to see all of our loved ones, generation after generation of them, showing up to support us and to transform our small steps into giant leaps.
