Trust in the Lord With All Thine Heart and Lean Not Unto Thine Own Understanding

Trust.  That has been one of the most difficult lessons I have learned this week.  Trusting in God is more important than anything else.  Because at certain times in your life, He is the only person you can trust.  Inevitably everyone will let you down at one point, that's part of being human.  We are all imperfect and are striving to be better, but we make mistakes along the way.  If we want to feel whole, loved and at peace, than we need to trust Him who created us, and loves us more fully than we could every comprehend.  The man who knows us perfectly. I hope I can remember that, and also remember that charity, in all things, especially through trials, makes you happier and closer to God.

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Charity, Truly a Divine Gift

Still in preparation for my Relief Society lesson I am excited to teach this Sunday, and also based off of a project I am working on for my class, I delved into the topic of charity.  Charity is interesting because it is something we constantly have to work on.  The natural man does not possess attributes like charity, because when we come to this phase of our life in this world we must learn to prove ourselves to God by exhibiting these characteristics so we prove to God that we remember and love Him and His children.  Still from Bishop Waddell's talk "A Pattern for Peace" he mentions that, "Peace of mind peace of conscience and peace of heart are not determined by our ability to avoid trials, sorrow, or heartache".  I contrasted that with Moroni 10:32 where it talks about serving God with all of our might, mind and strength, which is also like having peace of mind, conscience and heart. We all will inevitably have heartaches and trials in this life, but how we react to them and what we choose to do with our attitude with them will help determine how well we are developing these Christ-like attributes.  Everything leads and points towards Christ and the more we can learn to recognize that in this life, the happier we will become.

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Learning, Listening and Walking

This week I read a General Conference talk that really hit me, and spoke to my soul.  It is called "A Pattern for Peace" by Bishop W. Christopher Waddell.  I mentioned in my last post about some difficulties I have been having with my plans not going the way I expected and that has caused a lot of discord in my health.  I'm a planner, always have been and always will be.  And I am trying to learn how to be more flexible with my planning, but sometimes it's just hard when you plan on something and it doesn't end up working out.  But more importantly I have learned to trust in the Lord and ask for His plan for me, and what He thinks is best for me instead of what I think is best. This talk really helped remind of that, and help me want to learn better how to turn to my Savior. Bishop Waddell suggests that through every trial and consequence in our lives we should adopt the attitude of learning, listening and walking.  He relates all of these to learning to listen to Christ, and walking in his footsteps.  It was a powerful reminder to me that amidst all of life's trials and heartaches if we can just but learn from our experiences, listen to God and strive with all of our heart to walk in His footsteps, we will learn and grow in ways we never imagined.  God wants what's best for us, and the trials we receive are meant to help us in every capacity along the way.

                                                                                             

Understanding is a Complex Idea

This week I really feel like I have had some challenges come up based on plans I made that didn't work out.  Unfortunately I didn't understand the purpose of why I was planning these things, nor did I understand the full implications of why these plans were so important to me when they didn't come through.  But through turning to the Lord in all of this I have realized that sometimes you have to plan on the unexpected, and be willing to be flexible.  The Lord doesn't work around your plan, you work with His plan, because He knows best.  I flipped open the Book of Mormon and read a part where Abinidi was chastising the evil priests of King Noah saying,

"Ye have not applied your heart to understanding; therefore, ye have not been wise"(Mosiah 12:27)

I think part of understanding why we do things is appealing to the Lord and asking for His help in formulating our plans and realizing that we need to apply to the Lord for understanding when things don't work out the way we want them to.

The Connection

Have you ever had that feeling where you just connect to someone's spirit?  Where whatever they are saying you just seem to really relate to and understand?  I have really felt that with a recent deceased apostle by the name of Elder Richard G. Scott.  For some reason I have always related to him on a more intimate level, and his talks are always answers to my prayers in the week I read them.  I know he has blessed so many people's lives, and will continue to bless them in the next.  I especially loved his talk "Making the Right Choices" from the October 1994, ironically a little over a month before I was born, General Conference Session.  In it he talks about how the choices we make here are paramount, and will shape our future in the life to come and to exercise caution.  One of my favorite quotes I pulled was this,

"One of the hardest things for you to recognize is how truly strong you already are and how others silently respect you".  

I doubt my capabilities so often in life, and it is only when I turn to the Lord and have Him as my strength that I realize how much I am doing, and who I am becoming.  I would like to challenge anyone reading this to do the same!  Learn for yourself your worth, and become the person God intended you to be. 

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