Be a superhero

"Too many want to see the end from the beginning.  We all have decisions to make in life, and many of us want to see that everything will turn out OK before we take that first step."

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I’m sure we’ve all had the childhood fantasy of being a superhero.  The world — or at least the world as we knew it — was on the brink of total annihilation.  Then, at the pivotal moment, we step in, defeat the villains, and save the world.

Such dreams of my younger days took a slight twist when hormones began coursing through my veins.  Instead of saving the world, I was saving a beautiful woman who of course would fall madly in love with me for saving her.  We would get married and live happily ever after.

Then I would wake up and see reality was something very different.

We’ve all dreamed of saving the day in one form or another.  Those we dream of saving may or may not need us to be a superhero.  But our own individual lives certainly do.

Yes, our lives need each of us to be a superhero — a superhero of faith.  We need to walk by faith in order to live our best life, to do everything the Lord wants us to do and become everything He wants us to become.  Achieving that means rising above the ordinary and making faith our superpower.

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Step into the dark

Superheroes of faith walk by it.  I’m sure many of us know Paul’s declaration that “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).  Yet I’m not as certain that as many of us live that.

Too many want to see the end from the beginning.  We all have decisions to make in life, and many of us want to see that everything will turn out OK before we take that first step.

President Boyd K. Packer once told about seeking advice from President Harold B. Lee in making an important decision.  After hearing a rehearsal of the situation, President Lee responded, “Your problem is that you want to know the end from the beginning.  You need to walk by faith.  Consult with the Lord, make the best decision you can, and then trust the Lord to work everything for your good.”  President Packer followed that counsel, and indeed, everything worked out for his good.

Many of us want to know how everything will work out before we take that first step.  We need to trust the Lord when He reveals a path to us and take that first step into the dark.  Walking by faith means trusting Him to work everything for our good, especially when we don’t know how that could ever happen.

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Proceed with vision

In contrast, walking by sight means proceeding with a preconceived plan in view.  We saw the plan detailing how everything comes together before we took the first step.  And we continue to view that plan as we journey onward.

Walking by sight also means proceeding in accordance with what we our natural eyes see.  Too often we relinquish our dreams because what we see with our natural eyes tells us those blessings can never come to us.  The life we desire seems so impossible we wonder how it could ever be.

Enoch had just such a moment.  When the Lord called him to declare repentance, he wondered, Why me?  For “I . . . am but a lad, and all the people hate me; for I am slow of speech” (Moses 6:31).

But the Lord told him, “Go forth and do as I have commanded thee . . . .  Anoint thine eyes with clay, and wash them, and thou shalt see” (Moses 6:32, 35).  Upon doing so, Enoch gained a vision of his potential.  He then proceeded with that vision and became everything the Lord wanted him to become.

The Lord has great blessings for us, but we must walk with vision to receive them.  We must act in full confidence His promises will be kept, even when what we see with our natural eyes says they never will.

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Exercise your power

Walking by faith — with vision and not by sight — is truly extraordinary in a world where mediocrity is the norm.  This is a world which says that seeing is believing.

Those who proceed with vision truly are superheroes.  Their superpower of faith allows them to walk with confidence that believing is seeing.  At length, what was seen only in the inner world becomes visible for all in the outer world.

Do you want your best life?  Be a superhero.  Partner with the Lord.  Let Him show you your potential and the path you need to take to realize it.  When you step out into the dark, fully confident the Lord will be with you, you’ll find the light you carry — the light that is the Lord — will go with you.  And that will bring more joy in your journey.

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