Desired Destiny
Have you ever seen a bunny run backwards? Of course not. There’s no practical application for a bunny to even try. Running is a bunny’s defense mechanism that keeps it safe. To run forward is to have strength and direction but to run backwards is to accept defeat.
In my undergraduate career, one of my favorite classes was human anatomy. I never imagined that this class would teach me the connection between a bunny’s ability for locomotion and the concept of destiny, but that was one of the main take-home lessons I got from my professor’s instruction.
The professor explained muscle movement and purpose with the analogy of a bunny running away from a predator. He asked the class why the front legs are so much smaller than the hind legs and why the hind legs have much less mobility than the forelegs. The reasoning he gave is that this gives notice to the purpose of the fore and hind legs respectively.
The hind legs need to be big and strong to propel the animal forward. The front legs need to be mobile and quick to point the animal in the right direction. If the hind legs were as small as the front, the animal would have no power nor speed. Likewise, if the front legs were as bulky and immobile in its socket as the animal’s hind legs, the bunny couldn’t pivot quickly and redirect himself where he needed to go with enough accuracy.
When I first took this class, the connection to the idea of destiny didn’t come to me. It was a couple years later, when I was trying to teach others a gospel principle that the analogy came to mind and the puzzle pieces clicked into place. A bunny is not automatically destined to be eaten by a wolf. If it chooses to run towards a wolf or not run away from it then, surely, it will be eaten. If, however, a bunny chooses to run towards its burrow, then it can find safety.
We, like the bunny, have the same choice. Our metaphorical hind legs are faith, or the actions we take to move forward. Our forelegs act as our focus or the direction we head as we propel ourselves forward. In life, we don’t have the luxury of stopping. We are constantly propelling or being propelled somewhere, but the movement can be in a good or a bad direction. If we make choices to act against the will of God, then we are literally running away from the burrow of safety the Lord provides. Yet, if we make righteous decisions then we are making gains away from our enemies.
The scriptures teach us that we will be Judged according to the desire of our hearts (D&C 137:9). This does not mean that we are doomed to or rewarded with a predetermined fate according to the desires our hearts are born with.
Want, desire and will are all synonyms of each other. But there are subtle differences that help distinguish their individual and overall purposes. Want is a fleeting craving or appetite. It is not inherently bad, but if given into in the wrong time, it becomes a carnal temptation and is then recognized as sin before God. Desire is a deep and long-term yearning that the heart and soul cling to.
Will then is effort and action put into desire. One way of putting it is this: Desire is to will as belief is to faith. Desire and actions work together in a reciprocal relationship.
Said Dallin H Oaks: “Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions.”
Priorities are interesting. It is one thing to list items in order of importance, but it is another thing to live in accordance with that list. Just like the phrase, “actions speak louder than words” it takes careful consideration and effort to synchronize what we want our priorities to be, what we know they should be and what they actually are based on what we are doing.
Another thought from Dallin H. Oaks is this: “Readjusting our desires to give highest priority to the things of eternity is not easy. We are all tempted to desire that worldly quartet of property, prominence, pride, and power. We might desire these, but we should not fix them as our highest priorities.”
Satan tries to deceive us by making us think that we are heading towards a burrow of peace and happiness when, in reality, it is a wolf in disguise. The truth is that what we choose to do does not have to reflect our initial wants and desires. We can overcome addictions and change our nature by deciding to go against temptations we face. The grace of God can change and mold our hearts if we let the Atonement of Christ work in our lives.
And the benefit of making the daily choice to change and point ourselves closer to the Lord is stated well by Thomas S. Monson: “decisions have their eternal consequences. It has been said by one, years ago, that history is influenced by seemingly small decisions, and so are people’s lives. Our lives will depend upon the decisions which we make—for decisions determine destiny.”
Where you want to go and where you choose to go should be in line with each other. If your deep-down desire is to make it back to Heavenly Father but you are making choices that put you in the wrong direction, you can still turn around. Destiny is not bound by fate, it is bound by the direction you are currently headed. So, we should all ask ourselves: Am I headed towards a wolf or a burrow, or in other words, is what I’m currently doing going to get me to where I want to end up?
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