Little Problems

Recently President Nelson posted this on Instagram: “You may have heard a rumor that someone saw me somewhere using a walker or a wheelchair. Well, it’s not a rumor. From time to time, I’m having a small challenge with my balance. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised when little issues arise as I near the century mark. Gratefully, my heart is good, my spirit is strong as are my legs, and my brain still works. I love you my dear brothers and sisters, and am grateful every day to serve the Lord and you. Little challenges with balance should be the least of our worries. Onward and upward!” I like the way he referred to his problem with balance as a “little challenge.” If no longer being able to walk on your own is a “little” problem, what are the big challenges? I think with this post he is trying to encourage us to put our trials in perspective and remember what matters most: how we follow Jesus Christ. It reminds me of Alma’s words to his son Corianton: “And now, my son, I desire that ye should let these things trouble you no more, and only let your sins trouble you, with that trouble which shall bring you down unto repentance” (Alma 42:29). What should trouble us most are not the physical challenges of life or our worldly struggles but rather those things that God would have us change through repentance.

The Lord told us through Isaiah, “I, even I, am he that comforteth you.” Real comfort and help to our challenges should come through Him. He then asked us this penetrating question: “Who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass” (Isaiah 51:12). We should not fear man or the fears of men or let our worldly struggles become bigger than they need to be. In the end they will all be “little problems” that will matter much less than our faith and repentance and commitment to following the Savior. When talking about our priorities and the demands for our time that the world places on those in the workforce, President Oaks once made this comment: “I have never known of a man who looked back on his working life and said, ‘I just didn’t spend enough time with my job.’” Surely that will be similar for many things that take up time in our lives; we will not look back on our lives and wish that we had spent more time worrying about the little problems that won’t go with us into the next life. But many of us may regret not spending enough time with those we love, especially the Lord. I like the perspective of Elder John Groberg who, as the president of the Idaho Falls Temple, would often hear people talk about going back into the “real world” when leaving the temple. He tried to tell them that what was happening in the temple was the real world: “That which lasts forever is real; that which does not last forever is not real. The temple is the real world, not this temporal one." That is the perspective that we must work to keep—the things of God are what matter most, and we need not get too hung up on our “little problems” that so easily get us down. As President Nelson encouraged us, we should not get discouraged but go “onward and upward” in our journey on the covenant path back to Lord.