Staying Focused on Christ (Ensign Submission)

I learned one of the great lessons of my life during track practice in high school. I decided to try pole vaulting one year but I learned rather quickly that it was not very easy. Our coach was an experienced pole vaulter who had a personal trainer. One day during practice, I asked her to give me suggestions on how to improve. She showed me how to hold the pole correctly and then watched my attempt to jump over the bar. I stood at one end of the track, held the pole with a firm grip, ran down the track, posted the pole in the box and jumped. As the pole raised me up, I lifted my feet over my head attempting to clear the bar. But I hit it, knocking it over and then tried to land without falling on the bar.

I talked to the coach afterwards to see what mistakes I had made and where I needed to improve. She quizzed me to see what I did wrong; I didn’t know. Then she asked me where my eyes were while I was running. I recalled that I looked at the box, the bar and her. She told me that my eyes were in too many places. I needed to keep my focus on the box the whole time, not the bar or anything else, until the pole was fixed firmly in it.

Years went by before I saw the power of that lesson. I grew more in my understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ until one day the Spirit brought this experience back to my memory. He opened my eyes to the power of this lesson while I was reviewing President Eyring’s talk God Helps the Faithful Priesthood Holder (Oct 2007). He said, “No priesthood holder who wants to succeed will be careless about where his eyes go.” After I listened to this talk multiple times, and pondered that experience pole vaulting, it became apparent that the box represents Christ.

The pole vaulting box is made of strong metal that has been tempered to withstand many high impact forces over a long period of time. Pole vaulters put a lot of pressure on the box because they must run very fast before placing the pole into it. When they arrive at the box, they must quickly and precisely place the pole in it; this is why their full focus on the box is needed. The box’s solid foundation redirects the energy of the runner, enabling him beyond his capacity. The combination of the person, the pole, the focused energy and the box, allows the pole vaulter to lift high off of the ground to otherwise impossible heights.

And so it is with Christ; His character has been tempered to withstand all of our forces. We must have faith in Him, hold firmly to the rod of iron and run diligently down the strait and narrow path with an eye single to the glory of God. Then, He will lift us above the fears which hold us down, enabling us to clear a bar that seems impossible to the mortal mind.

Christ expects us to plant our trust in Him, hold firmly to the rod and lift our feet over our head with full confidence that His enabling power will lift us over the commandments and laws that we must obey in order to return to live with Him. As we practice in this life by raising the bar, clearing it and raising it some more, there will be times then we knock it over. When this happens, we need to go to our coach and humbly ask how we can improve. This way we will be prepared for the final event when we will confidently clear the bar set on Celestial standards.

Discovering the analogy of pole vaulting has helped me see that all things truly testify of Christ. Pondering this experience has strengthened my testimony of His role in my life. I know that He fulfilled his mission allowing us to return to live with Him. As we keep our focus on Him, hold strong to His words and run as fast as we are able, Christ will lift us to unimaginable heights and say “well done thou good and faithful servant.”