Yet there is something in us that revolts at times of trouble. We think there should be no problems - that problems are terrible injustices that must be eradicated like cockroaches in the kitchen or mice in the cellar. We somehow, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, believe that faith is an act we perform that results in the perfect life; free of all conflict, all problems.
Why do we persist in such simplistic childlike ways of seeing life? Why do we crave that life of ease? I think it is because way deep down in our souls, we remember heaven. We know and we long for heaven. It was our beginning and it will be our end.
This in-between act in the play is the difficult one. We are being pushed and pulled and stretched and humbled and taught in what my dad would have called "the school of hard knocks." Life is tough. Just look at the United States right now. Forty-eight wildfires are raging in the mountain states. People are losing their homes. It is predicted that 450.000 people in Texas and Louisiana have had home damage from Hurricane Harvey but Hurricane Irma is on its way now and is expected to hit Florida. I read the other day in the Deseret News that one third of material on the internet is pornography. Just look at any family and you see problems galore. Life (act 2) is difficult.
What does Psalm 56 have to say? (verse 3,4,8,9)
When I am afraid, I will trust in thee. I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. Thou knowest my wanderings; put thou my tears into thy bottle; are they not in thy book? This I know. God is with me.
This is a very different kind of faith. Trust seems like the key word. And verse nine suggests testimony or prior experience that has led us to personally have experienced God in our lives.
We can create an affirmation from those verses:
You may have recognized the influence of D&C 122:7 . . . know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. Also Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.
Elder Holland in his chapter on Psalm 56 chose verse 9 as the key "God is for us."
Just think what that means. God is for us. He loves us, He will always love us. He is always watching us. Everything He does is intended to bring us home. He wants to bless and exalt us.
These are the most basic of Gospel principles. I am a Child of God. . . He has sent me here . . . to live with Him someday. For this reason HE Sent His Son.
If I truly believe that, then what is it that I know?
I know that. . .
God is my loving Heavenly Father
I am His child,.
He wants me back home
He sent His Son to help me.
He watches me every day.
He will always be with me; I am never alone.
I will return home much changed as I humbly seek to learn and grow from every experience.
My mistakes will never prevent me from returning - because of my Savior.
With that kind of personal conviction, I can exercise faith in every footstep whether those steps take me through garden paths or the pits of hell. God is with me.
What a beautiful thought! As Elder Holland say, "That truth had to be seared into our hearts, written in bold letters across the tissue of our brains, and never forgotten."
I know that. I know God lives and that He loves me. He has been with me through many ups and downs, has loved me at my worst and carried me through my own storms of life. I love how Elder Holland says "He loves us. He is our Heavenly Father. He never sleeps, nor slumbers in His watch-care over us. His work and His glory are to save us, to exalt us, to see us safely home with Him."
I know that path home and have felt His arms guiding me back to that path when I have wandered. But He left me wandering long enough that I would gain the experience I needed so I was ready to return. I am grateful that He trusted me enough to let me have those experiences and to learn from them. I am thankful that through the Savior those wanderings have not become road blocks. I am grateful for Father's love for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment