Ordinary People, Extraordinary Results

I don't have much time to blog this morning, and I won't really get another chance later, so I'll just pull some inspirational photo or meme off of Facebook. Maybe I should make an album of photos like that, so I can pull one out quickly when I need one, rather than hunting through the other stuff on Facebook.

This quote is inspiring in that it says that even ordinary people can do great things. However, it's a little discouraging when you consider the method by which Elder Bednar said "Ordinary people... will bring forth extraordinary results." I think we can all manage to "do simple things that are right before God," but it's sometimes difficult to do those things "faithfully, diligently, and consistently." It's not that the Lord's path is horribly difficult, it's that we have a hard time staying on it. And once we've stepped off of it, we have a hard time getting back on.

Still, perhaps it's not quite as difficult as I sometimes think it is. God isn't asking us to be perfect right now; He's asking us to strive toward perfection, and to keep trying whenever we fall short. Yes, God wants us to follow Him consistently, and we should certainly try, but He knows that we're only human. We're going to fall short from time to time, even in the simple things. I can personally testify that God is patient with those who strive to follow Him, no matter how many times they fail.

So if you feel imperfect and ordinary, don't beat yourself up over it. God frequently uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Perhaps you're one of them.