Recently, as I was driving to work, I found myself suddenly mesmerized by a random highway sign. It may seem peculiar that an ordinary, everyday sign caused me such fascination, but something about this one caught my eye.

What drew my attention to this sign, was the man who was standing in front of it. I’m not really sure exactly what this man was doing to the sign, but he was strapped in a bucket high above the highway. What mesmerized me by this sight, was how very small the man looked in relation to the sign. I pass dozens of these signs every day, but I had no idea that they were so huge.

I reflected on this sight for some time. I thought, to this man, just inches away, this sign must have seemed immense and daunting. I thought how the man probably cannot even read the entire message on the sign from his vantage point or perspective.

As I pondered this man and his work on this huge sign, I thought how he is much like us facing the problems and trials in our lives. We cannot see them clearly or understand what they are trying to teach us while we are so close to them. Much like this sign they can seem enormous, intimidating and confusing. They can make us feel very small or inadequate by comparison. As we get some distance between us and our trials we can usually see them in perspective.

During these times when our problems and trials are so close that they seem insurmountable and overwhelm us, when we feel hopeless and unable to endure, our Heavenly Father will always be there for us. He, with His eternal perspective, can see the whole picture. He knows that we can succeed, that we are meant to succeed.

He will be there to comfort us, strengthen us, and help us through the trials of this life—every time we ask…