From Jeffrey R. Holland and his book “For Times of Trouble”
Psalms 18:36; 94:18-19
Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.
When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O Lord held me up.
In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.
When we allow God to come into our lives (or we are wise enough to come into His), He “enlarges our steps” for the path we must walk—or, in more modern language he gives us bigger feet that we do not slip.
Much of the miraculous help we find in the gospel is just that—a miracle from heaven, the power of the priesthood, the attendance of angels administering to us through a very thin veil. These gifts from God, are manifestations of His grace. They are provided for us without much control or power—even much worthiness, it seems—on our part.
But other elements of God’s miraculous help consist of things He does to, in effect, let us help ourselves. Some paths we feel we just can’t walk. Some mountains seem too high to climb. Some steps are just too difficult to take. When that is so, heaven does intervene, but often it is not to smooth out our path or remove the mountain or shorten the steps. More often than not, God sends help in a different way. He makes us stronger and more sure-footed. In effect, He gives us bigger feet, stronger legs, a firmer back, more stiffened shoulders. He deals with us rather than the problem we face. We then proceed with new strength, less slipping, and are all the stronger for it.
A case in point is recorded in Book of Mormon history. In a very difficult circumstance, “the burdens that were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease.”71 The trials were still there, but the backs of the people were made equal to the burdens the Lord placed upon them.
Time again, over and over, more than we give Him credit for, the Lord steadies us in those moments when we slip. He secures our footing. He keeps us from falling. Obviously, some people we know have not only slipped but have taken a nosedive. However, in those mistakes, He can pick us up, dress our wounds, and put us on our way again.
But we would do well to pause and give consideration to the dozens of times, the hundreds of times that we didn’t slip. Perhaps through our own ignorance or insistence we should have. But we didn’t. His mercy held us up. Life holds many recognizable near misses, but there are many, many more that are not recognized, the consequences of which we never, the danger of which never came to be. Before our foot slipped—or even when it started to slip—we were taken to safety. In the multitude of those thoughts, those memories and chances when something might have happened differently and tragically (but didn’t!) “thy comforts delight my soul. ~Jeffrey R. Holland, For Tomes of Trouble (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2012) p. 45-46
