Do we wonder at times why obedience
seems to bring more trials? Obedience is not a means by which we are
spared from trials. The trials of God are a means by which He refines
us into a people He can use. They are a tool in His holy hands used
to make us humble, teachable, and Christlike. Obedience was never
meant to free us from trials, but was meant to bring us the highest
quality of growth the Father could give unto his children while they
dwelt on the earth.
If we take that into account then we
need not be surprised when our lives seem to get harder as we
continuously follow the council of the Lord. We do not know exactly
how far the Lord is going to lead us before we are lead out of a
particular trial, but He leads us onward through the path of most
growth, and most development. However if we let go of His hand and
step off the trail he is leading us down, we at times will
unknowingly increase the difficulty, pain, and frustration that a
trial would have otherwise brought to us. And in so doing we delay
the growth that would have come if we had simply remained on the road
the Lord was leading us down. Once we step off the path we must first
find out way back to the path, or push through pain thorn covered
path till we find our way out of the trial. The Lord will follow
behind us till we are ready to turn to Him, and ask Him to lead us
back to the path He was originally leading us down. Remember that growth is the witness that comes after the trial of our faith. But the duration of that trial is largely on our shoulders, and it is not simply extended by God with Him intending for it to be the length it is. Let us do what we can to not delay the growth He intends for us, nor to lengthen a trial that needed not be lengthened.
But what happens at those times where
we are already doing all in our power to follow Him, and to remain on
that path? We need to remember that we do not travel this life alone.
Our choices affect others, and their choices affect us. There will
always be something trying to push us off the road. Yet all we can
do, and the one thing we must do, is hold fast to the hand of Jesus
and follow Him down the road He would lead us down.
As we learn about Him we will learn
that He is “meek, and lowly of heart.” Is is because of this that
His burden is easy, and that His yoke is light. It is why He is able
to help us carry our own. How great would the easiness of the way be
if WE learned how to be meek and lowly of heart! How light would that
yoke be! (notice those are not questions) If we learn to be
submissive, and learn to be meek and lowly of heart we will see that
through the growth the Lord would have us do, that our burdens will
be easier, and our yokes will be lighter. Hold fast to the hand of
Christ, learn of Him, and be like Him. And be easy to be taught by
His holy spirit.
Admittedly it has been a while since
my last blog post. The second half of my last semester was
particularly busy and stressful, as was my summer. However I have a
bit here before my next semester begins. I hope I explain this well enough.
I have spent some time thinking about
the statement: “the timing of the Lord.” How exactly does this
apply to us? Those of us who are religiously inclined, at least among
the Christian communities use this term in one phrasing or another
fairly often. “God's timing,” “Jesus' timing,” so forth, but
in the end we do simply mean that we are waiting on the time in which
God feels it is best to give a specific blessing, need, or want;
we're waiting on the time He knows is best.
But is it enough to wait? As I have
been pondering this I had the idea of a door pop into my head. I call
this the “Door of opportunity.” These doors come in several
sizes, but for my purposes I'm going to use just three.
The first is the “gigantic you
cannot miss it no matter how hard you may try door.” I think you
get the idea. When the Lord is ready to present someone with a
specific blessing this is typically what we are looking
for, when in reality it is the least often of the methods used by
God. These doors are those most ultimate moments of clarity in which
we know what to do, in which a question gets answered, in which
unmistakable instruction is given from Him to us. These usually come
in times when the Lord is truly trying to direct us down a specific
path and either a) we have qualified for such a blessing, or b) He
has felt a need to deliver such a warning, or intervention.
The second of these doors, and the
second most common, is the kind you may not be looking for but it
will get your attention eventually after you've passed it a few
times. They may be less clear at first, but become more clear over
time. In some instances the instruction from these may in truth be
extremely clear.
The last kind of door, and the one
least noticed and the one I wish to spend the most time discussing is
the kind which you will only locate when and
if you look for it. Noticed I
didn't say “and/or” but rather “and/if.” These will be the
doors most often used by God to bless us. You may ask “Why, if God
is so desirous to bless His children, would He make them look so hard
for it?”
Another thing that makes this particular door scary is you can't always see very far into it, if you can see into it at all. You simply know the Lord wants you to step through it; to step into the darkness and go forward by faith. Where is the faith if you always know exactly what you're getting yourself into? I think this is why I have such a hard time with this particular door, largely I can never see that well into them. But as I begin to walk through it I find little by little I can see more and more as the "light of my understanding" begins to illuminate the room (which the Lord knew would happen if I would just go forward.)
The
Savior said, “If you love me keep my commandments.” In Matther 6
He taught, “Not everyone that sayeth unto me “Lord, Lord,”
shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven. But he that doeth the will of
my Father who is in Heaven.” God expects us to keep the
commandments that He gives unto us. And I am convinced that not only
will we only find these doors if and when we are looking for them,
but these are the doors we desperately need to find the most.
In
truth, it is not always as hard as we may think to find these doors.
When we have the Holy Ghost with us we are able to find them, because
the Spirit can direct us to them. And this is the key to why I have
entitled this post “Impeding the timing of the Lord.”
We
do not know what doors the Lord has, or would have opened for us if
we would simply have been aware, and ready. We need to be both aware
and ready for these small doors. The Lord, and our Father in Heaven,
they desire to open many doors for us to bless our lives. But when we
neglect to do the things that invite the presence of the Spirit into
our lives, or when we go as far as blatantly chasing it away (for
example, when I watch a horror movie it simply leaves. That's all
there is too it, and I hate the way it feels when the Spirit of the
Lord leaves) we remove ourselves from a position where we are able to
recognize the doors the Lord is opening for us. Regular scripture
study, regular prayers, regular partaking of the sacrament worthily,
doing our part to make these things happen, being where you are
supposed to be when you know you are supposed to be there, and
choosing to do the things you know you should be doing; when we do
these things we literally create opportunities for the Spirit of the
Lord to come be with us. And that's the way it is, we
make those opportunities. This is because the Lord wants us to show
to Him that we understand the value of having the Holy Ghost with us.
I have asked myself on many occasions, do I understand the value of
having the Holy Ghost with me? I've been praying for my Father to
teach me the value of that gift.
I
have said my times that life is the choices we make to a very large
extent. So choose to live in such a way that the Spirit of the Lord
is ALWAYS with you. Show the Lord you do have an understanding of the
value of the Holy Ghost. Any man or woman who understands that value
will find themselves automatically beginning to change their habits
to create more opportunities to have the Holy Ghost with them, and
gradually trying to overcome habits that would cause it to leave.
When
things don't go the way I had hoped or expected, by mind comes back
to this now. Am I keeping the Holy Ghost with me, or am I chasing it
away? Or am I simply giving it no reason to stay? Doing nothing is
the same thing as chasing it away. Having the presence of the Spirit
with us is a blessing that is condition based, it comes as a result
of keeping the commandments and seeing to our spiritual needs and
development. It is in a completely literal sense “invited” by us
to be with us. And so, my mind returns to the question: Am I doing
nothing, and thereby giving the Holy Ghost no reason to remain, or am
I even going as far as chasing it away? In trials it gets
exponentially harder to continue my habits such as scripture study
and writing in my journals, and I know I begin to turn inward. It
becomes real work just to keep up with the basics. But I find that
even if I don't get things done every day, the Father sees my fight
to have the Spirit with me, and the Spirit does come with me as I do
my best to improve and return to consistency in my studies. And I
know that as I become able to do more, I am responsible to do more. I
have to do all that I can do in order to qualify for certain
blessings. But when it comes to having the Holy Ghost with us, all we
can do is very largely “be consistent with doing the basics:
reading, praying, going to church, don't stay up to late(my main
trial largely), and so forth.”
But
when I have the Spirit with me I am able to see those doors the Lord
would open for me. And at that point it all boils down to 3 things.
1) Am I scared to enter through that door? Do I have the faith to
trust in my Father, and in His Son, that if I go through that door
will everything be okay? 2) Do I understand that “everything will
be okay” does not equate to “everything will go how you want,”
and 3) Even when I'm scared do I have the courage to step through
that door?
If
there is one thing I do understand it is this: Doing nothing is the
same as going nowhere. It is the same as telling the Lord that I
don't need His help, which in reality I truly do. To not step through
a door He has opened for me is the same as saying, “I know what I
need and when I need it better than you do.” But I step through
those doors not matter how I'm feeling because then I know that I can
look back with no regrets because I did my best to be faithful to my
Father, and to trust Him enough to step through the door He opened
for me; I trust that He knows that it's the best time for that door
to be opened, and I trust that one way or another I will truly be
okay and come out of it having grown.
Do
not impede the timing of the Lord by denying the presence of the Holy
Ghost in your lives. Live in such a way that it will always be with
you, and understand that it is in having the Holy Ghost with you that
you will be able to recognize the doors He has opened for you. And
then have the courage to step through it trusting that truly all will
be okay one way or another; it will be for your growth and benefit if
you will but trust in Him.
Sorry if the post feels a little scattered. My thoughts have been everywhere the past few months and it seems like only recently I am pulling them all back together.
-Samuel
PS - I think this kind of helps. It's about revelation in general, but my post was largely about recognizing when the Lord places opportunities before us He would have us take/experience. Either way, they will likely come as Elder Bednar describes.
