Pollyanna, or This Isn't What I Prayed For

When I was little, I used to foolishly hope that I’d be paralyzed or go blind. Or at very least get glasses. I’d seen the movie Pollyanna, and when she fell out of her bedroom window and was paralyzed, everyone in town brought her presents and said lots of nice stuff about her. Fortunately, God doesn’t give us everything we ask for. He obviously knew what I hadn't grasped yet: no amount of presents or having the community rally together to praise me would be worth the loss of my vision.  

I don't pray for trials anymore. I have enough of them and nobody’s bringing me presents anyway. But, as I’ve prayed either for me or my loved ones to be delivered from various challenges, it has sometimes seemed that God doesn’t answer these prayers either. I have felt very afraid or hurt when I have prayed for something good and right, but it seems that God won’t do anything about my sincere requests.

Fixing our problems immediately will, ironically, not give us what we truly need. The removal of most trials is not worth more than the growth we find as we live through these difficult experiences.

God is more concerned with who we are, who we are becoming, and who we will be than with what we presently want. Often the trials given to us are great teachers. As we work through them we can learn beautiful truths about God, ourselves, and others that change and help perfect us. These times of waiting are just disguised; they are actually beautiful blessings.

God also often answers our prayers a little bit at a time. This can prove confusing or disappointing if we’re expecting Him to lead us a certain direction and He ends up taking us another. It often takes time, but it certainly takes true trust to finally accept how and when the Lord fully answers our requests. Being able to accept His way can be a process, and that’s fine. It might even be the point of the trial. The faith we’re developing to keep trying and keep believing is one of the things we are being blessed to gain as we wait for His power to be shown in our lives.

It is confusing and difficult to feel that God could do something but won’t. I have cried as I have asked Him for help or relief. And while He hasn’t always given a definite answer, I have been blessed to feel that He is listening and that He loves me. I have felt that everything will work out. For some of us, though, it is difficult to feel God's love. Knowing that, our trials may be some of the tools God is using to help us come to trust that He does love us, that He does know us, and to help us learn that we are wonderful as we are.

God knows everything, including what we really need. What we really need and want is to become like Him so that we can enjoy perfect happiness. This is a long term goal that requires us to be changed. We need to learn, feel, and experience things. In order for us to change, we all must be taught through trials and opposition, disappointment and loss. But, these trials will provide opportunities for us to grow.

I know that God does answer our prayers. Always, even if the answer is no. Even if we can't see how or when or why, we can be given the quiet but real assurance through the Holy Ghost that He loves us,He has listened to our prayers, and that everything is and has been in His perfectly capable hands. He's got things under control. With that knowledge, we can feel peace. We can feel gratitude that we are beginning to learn more about His perfect wisdom and love.

mormon.org - My Profile

I have filled out a profile on mormon.org. I answered various questions, including why I am a Mormon, how I feel about my church and my faith, how my beliefs have strengthened me, my feelings about the role of the prophet Joseph Smith, etc. Feel free to check it out.

http://mormon.org/me/1PS3/

Jesus Christ - Our Friend

To trust someone, we must know them. We trust our parents or a family member or friend because of our experiences with them. We know who they are and what they are like; they have listened to us as we have shared the more vulnerable parts of ourselves. They support, encourage, and help us. They know us. They love us. And they are loyal and kind.

In order for us to trust Jesus Christ enough to accept Him and follow Him, we must know Him. We knew and loved Him long before we came to earth. We all trusted Him enough to come here in order to continue our journey of becoming like our Heavenly Father. We understood that Jesus would provide the only way we could overcome death and sin. And we knew He was loving and strong and good enough to do all God had asked Him to do (Revelation 12:10-11). We had this confidence because we loved and trusted and knew both Him and our Heavenly Father. So, we have already trusted Him once; we must now rediscover that trust. 

To do so, we must learn again who He is. We must know that He has the power to keep all of His promises. We must understand why we need Him, what He has done for us, and what He has promised us. We must have experiences with Him in order to understand and feel His love and compassion and power. We can begin to rediscover our faith as we act on any desires we have to find out more about Him, or to act on the hope that He can help us.   

As we have experiences with Him, our faith in Him will grow. As we repent of our sins, we will feel that we really can be forgiven because of what He has done for us. As we pass through difficult times, we can learn that His invitation, “come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,” does lead to His promise, “and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). As we continue to try to depend on Him as we go through our challenges, we will learn that He will always help us. He keeps His promises. He always has.

He is kind and compassionate. He understands why we do the things we do. He understands that we often aren't able to do everything we would like to do. We want to be be better than we are. He also understands what we have gone through and how we feel about those experiences, and how those feelings can affect us. He took our pains (physical, emotional, etc.) upon Him. Because He understands us, He knows how to help us. 

We will need to trust that He has the power to make our lives better as we accept Him. We can trust that what Jesus offers us is and will be better than what we already have. I am learning that. As I have gone through my own personal challenges, as I have sinned and sought forgiveness, and as I have needed strength and encouragement to keep going, I have learned of Jesus’ perfect character and love. He is so kind, so understanding, so forgiving and encouraging. He understands what we need and when we need it. He is the perfect teacher. 

He loves us enough to let us pass through challenges, even though many times these challenges persist and do not get resolved right away. They may last months. Or years. But, He is right there with us as we go through them. These challenges are for our good. I know this because of my experiences with Him during these times. I know Him. I have been supported, encouraged, and helped as I have worked through experiences where I have felt vulnerable and helpless. He has walked with me at the pace I have been able to maintain. He invites me to do what I can, and He helps me do what I can't. He has helped me see when I am trying to do too much by myself or when I could be doing and being more. He has lightened the pain and weight of what I could not carry. He has helped me do and be more than I ever thought possible. I have come to know Him. And the more I know Him, the more strength I have to trust Him. The more I know Him, the more I love Him.

To learn more about Jesus Christ and how you can accept more of His help, feel free to visit http://mormon.org/jesus-christ/

Why Do We Need a Savior?

Before we were born, we lived with God.  He presented a plan to us. We were to be given bodies and an experience here on earth; we were to learn many wonderful things through experiences, some of which would be very intense and painful. We would be able to continue to make choices, but our memories of God and His love for us would be taken away for a while in order for us to learn to live by faith and understand ourselves what we truly want. All of these experiences were to help us become like God. The ultimate goal was for us to begin to become more like Him and then to return to Him with that experience to continue progressing. We would be able to live with our families forever in perfect happiness. 

But there were two things that would stop us from coming back to live with God and become like Him: death and sin. In order to live with God and become like Him, we need to have a perfected body, but our bodies on earth wouldn’t be perfect; we could get sick, have emotional challenges, etc., and eventually we would die, or our spirits and bodies would be separated. Also, we would sin, or make choices that were against God’s will while on earth. “No unclean thing can enter into his kingdom (3 Nephi 27:19),” meaning if we chose to disobey God, which we would, we would not be able to live with Him again.

God chose Jesus Christ to save us from sin and death. Jesus Christ overcame death through His resurrection, or when He came to life again three days after He had been killed. He overcame the effects of sin by suffering for our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. All people will be resurrected; it is a gift given to everyone. However, because we are responsible for our own sins, and because we have the ability given to us by God to make choices, we choose to accept Christ’s payment for our sins or not. Jesus will not force us to accept what He has done for us. We will not be forced to be forgiven.

This is why the gospel of Jesus Christ is so important to live. As we trust Jesus Christ and have faith in Him, we want to live His teachings. We need to repent, or change what we’re currently doing to fit what He has taught us. We can then promise Him that we will follow His example and then show Him that we are willing to accept His help by being baptized. He then gives us the gift of the Holy Ghost or the opportunity of having the Holy Ghost guide and help us know how to follow His example. If we continue to follow Jesus’ teachings, He will change our hearts and we will become more like Him. He will help us learn what we need to learn and He’ll help us return to live with God. Living the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way for us to accept all the help Christ gives us. It is the way established by God to help us progress and change. It is how we choose to accept Jesus Christ. If we do, we will live with God again.

Accepting and following Jesus Christ has brought me great peace, satisfaction, and happiness. I have learned who I am, what makes me happy, and how loving and kind God, our Heavenly Father, is. If you want to learn more about what Jesus has done for us and how we can accept all of His help, feel free to visit http://mormon.org/jesus-christ/

What Rain and Challenges Do

It was sunny yesterday and today. That’s a big deal. It seems like it has been raining for weeks and weeks. It normally doesn’t rain this much here. I was so happy to go outside and see the blue sky.

I realized though that I have lived through many sunny days and never realized how great they were or how blue the sky was, or anything. If it’s been sunny for a long time, I stop noticing sun. Rainy days, along with making the plants nice and green and everything, help me appreciate sunny days. Without rainy days, the beauty outside would disappear.
 

It seems that most people I know are going through really difficult things. Maybe it’s because I’m growing up and becoming more aware of others and their lives, but I don’t remember this many people going through this many challenges before. But, I’ve learned from my own experience that challenges are some of the greatest blessings God gives us. One of the purposes of our experience here on earth is to gain experience in order to change our character, who we are. God wants us to become like Him, to enjoy all the blessings He enjoys. But, we aren’t yet. So, He sent us to earth to learn by experience and to progress.
 

Challenges will both teach us wonderful things and help us develop deep relationships with God and Jesus as we work through them. Or they will destroy us. They can turn us to God in humility or turn us away from Him feeling hurt. It can sometimes feel that He has given us too much to handle or that He isn’t giving the help that we need. But, as I look back on the past few months, I see that that God was right there with me through all of my challenges. There were times that, in those moments, I didn’t know where He was. But, He was with me. He was supporting me and helping me and giving me strength to try again and again. I know that as we accept the help of Jesus Christ, He will carry what we cannot. He will fill our hearts with peace and reassurance. He will let us know that He knows how we're feeling and He'll encourage and love us. He knows us. And He knows how to help us. He knows what we, together, can handle. He understands how hard things can be for us. He is patient and compassionate. He's willing to work with us where we are, as we are.

The more we know about our purpose in life and God’s love for us, the more we can understand challenges. Challenges help us appreciate life and who God is. Challenges are rainy days. They actually are beautiful blessings that help us recognize all that God does for us; they help us learn and become more like Him. Many of them take a long time to work through. But, I know that if we will not give up on Jesus Christ, we will make it though them eventually. The trick is just to hold on to Him when it seems that we may not be able to hold on for much longer. But, He can help you hold on. And He will. 

To learn more about the purpose of challenges, go here to learn more about God’s plan for our progression and happiness: http://mormon.org/plan-of-happiness/

God Knows About Happiness

Universally, everyone wants to be happy. We do things because we expect that they will make us feel good and content. Satisfaction is a big deal. Most of us can sense when things are out of balance in our lives. There are lots of things we can try to do to get that balance back or to feel satisfaction. But, not all things lead to genuine or lasting happiness. Almost anything can make us feel good or help us escape our stresses and cares for a time, but what truly can make us happy?

If we were left entirely to ourselves and our own experience, we would want and need to try everything in order to know which things would make us happy. We wouldn't want to leave out anything because we wouldn't know if we had found the most effective way to be happy. Life would be an endless pursuit of trying to find those things that brought maximum happiness. But, we could never be sure that we had discovered the "best" thing for us because it'd be impossible to try every experience our earth and lives had to offer.

But, we are not left to ourselves to find those things that will make us happy. God lives. He knows everything. And He is our kind Father. It is important to learn, believe, and then know that God understands all things, has all power, and wants us to be happy, because it is easier to trust someone who only wants our good and who has the power to keep all of His promises. God wants us to enjoy peace and joy. Because of this, He has given us clear direction regarding those things we can do that will bring us true happiness. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to teach and to show us how to live our lives in a way that is meaningful and satisfying. Even though He lived on earth a long time ago, He continues to teach us how we can be happy in our modern society; He communicates general things, like His commandments and counsel, through His selected servants, the prophets. If we will follow what Jesus taught and continues to teach us, we will be given the knowledge we are looking for and that God already knows: the best way to be happy.

If you're interested in learning more, feel free to visit: http://mormon.org/commandments/

Hope - Reverend David Wilkerson

"To believe when all means fail is exceedingly pleasing to God and is most acceptable. Jesus said to Thomas, “You have believed because you have seen, but blessed are those that do believe and have not seen” (John 20:29).

"Blessed are those who believe when there is no evidence of an answer to prayer—who trust beyond hope when all means have failed.

"Someone has come to the place of hopelessness—the end of hope—the end of all means. A loved one is facing death and doctors give no hope. Death seems inevitable. Hope is gone. The miracle prayed for is not happening.

"That is when Satan’s hordes come to attack your mind with fear, anger, overwhelming questions: “Where is your God now? You prayed until you had no tears left. You fasted. You stood on promises. You trusted.”

"Blasphemous thoughts will be injected into your mind: “Prayer failed. Faith failed. Don’t quit on God—just do not trust him anymore. It doesn’t pay!”

"Even questioning God’s existence will be injected into your mind. These have been the devices of Satan for centuries. Some of the godliest men and women who ever lived were under such demonic attacks.

"To those going through the valley and shadow of death, hear this word: Weeping will last through some dark, awful nights—and in that darkness you will soon hear the Father whisper, “I am with you. I cannot tell you why right now, but one day it will all make sense. You will see it was all part of my plan. It was no accident. It was no failure on your part. Hold fast. Let me embrace you in your hour of pain.”

"Beloved, God has never failed to act but in goodness and love. When all means fail—his love prevails. Hold fast to your faith. Stand fast in his Word. There is no other hope in this world."

-Reverend David Wilkerson

http://davidwilkersontoday.blogspot.com/2011/04/when-all-means-fail.html

God's Compassion - Rabbi Harold Kushner

“People only see what is visible, measurable; God sees into the heart. He not only forgives our failures, He sees successes where no one else does … not even ourselves. Only God gives us credit for the angry words we do not speak, the temptations that we resisted, the patience and gentleness little noticed and long forgotten by those around us. Just being human gives us value in his eyes, and trying to live with integrity makes us successful before him. God redeems us from the sense and fear of failure, because he sees us as no human eyes see us. Some religions teach that God knows us so well that he knows all our shameful thoughts and nasty secrets. I prefer to believe that God sees us so clearly that he knows better than anyone else our wounds and sorrows, the scars on our hearts from having wanted to do more and do better and being told by the world that we never would."

— Rabbi Harold Kushner