Years ago I found a short message with long-term benefits. Since there have been plenty of times in my life when it felt like things weren’t going really well, I’ve found help in the message.  Here it is:

Let me tell you what PUSH stands for:  Pray Until Something Happens

I’ve utilized some of the thoughts in this PUSH message, and added a number of sentences over the years. You’ll probably have your own to include. It sounded corny to me, at first. In actuality, though, my human nature leans toward impatience. I used to blame it on my Italian heritage, but the bottom line is: Who cares where it came from? I need to get rid of it, right?  

So, I’ve pushed my way through some silly and embarrassing situations, past some bothersome circumstances during which I’ve felt overwrought and underappreciated, and through some truly difficult, trying times.

Often, I’ve found that the “something that happens” is that I change. Not the circumstances. Me. That’s been an important revelation. Maybe you’ll find the same happens for you, every once in a while.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 teaches us to pray without ceasing. James 1:6 reminds me to pray with faith.  We are reminded to pray with our eyes on God, and not on the difficulties. 

Peter is a wonderful example to us. When we wanted to join the Savior, his faith allowed him to walk on the water with Jesus. When we noticed the tempestuous waves around him (taking his eyes off the Savior), he began to sink.  He knew whom to reach out for. And for his faith — and remembrance of looking to the Lord — he was granted the blessing of having that holy hand extended to him in the midst of the water. And was saved.

I guess the lesson for us is the same: We are saved by grace and by our faith in the Savior. Through His gift of the Atonement, we — keeping our eyes on Him — can get through anything. We just have to PUSH.