When I Feel That My Efforts Are Insignificant, or God Knows Our Hearts

When No is Right, or When Yes is Assuring

So, prayer is how we talk with Heavenly Father. I have asked for His help with situations and problems and concerns many times. Sometimes God answers almost immediately and I see incredible positive changes or miracles. But, there are other things I ask about that seem to go unanswered and are still unanswered. I am coming to learn that those aren't "unanswered" prayers. They are "not-yet" prayers.

Here are few observations:

1 - "Not-yet" prayers teach us that God actually does have a plan for us. He can do anything, but He won't in these specific situations. That's often because He knows where we will need to be, who we will need to meet, and when and where all of this will need to happen. Sometimes we're just a little early, or at times we may just be barking up the wrong tree. But more often He is just using our current trials or situation to teach us things and change us in ways for which we will thank Him later. We came to earth to learn and grow. And to be changed. Trials are one of the essential ways that growth is facilitated.

2 - "Not-yet" answers are not punishments, and they are not signs that God doesn't love us. It certainly gives God no pleasure to see us go through disappointment after disappointment (Ezekiel 33:11). He really does weep with us when we suffer. I know that.   

3 - That said, I am amazed at how quickly God does respond with a "yes" at other times. When He answers "yes," I think that He hopes to assure us that He really is helping us, and that either answer can be a sign of His concern and perfect knowledge; in other words, "yes" answers can help us accept "not-yet" answers with greater faith because we know God is responding. God wants us to not forget that He cares so much for us, and to know that He will answer "yes" whenever it is the best thing for us. He is our Dad, after all; He'd give anything to help us return to Him; His goal is our ultimate happiness.

Roller Coaster, or The Days After

I talk about roller coasters whenever I can. 

I find that how I feel about things fluctuates. And it can change in just a few minutes. When I'm feeling doubtful or worried about the future, I sometimes wonder how things will work out. But, I haven't given up and I won't. I know and feel assured that everything will be good and that God really does have places for me to go, jobs to find, and people to meet and love.

Neal A. Maxwell said:

"We may not know how to account for our moods at times, but the fact that these moods pass through us ought not to destabilize us so far as the deep doctrines of the Church are concerned. If down moods cannot be driven out at once, we can at least accelerate their transit times.

"It is so easy for one person's bad day to become another person's bad day. A spreading electrical power outage ends up affecting everybody, because early on, the discipline required was abandoned in favor of passing the problem along. Emotional electricity is much like the real thing.

"In any objective assessment of life, we can always be reassured as to the things that matter most: Immortality is ours through the gift and grace of Jesus Christ; there is a loving, caring Father in heaven; and we will live eternally under His perfect rule. We have such high promises and absolutely no reason for ultimate discouragement. Therefore, proximate pessimism ought not to envelop us. We ought not to be blitzed by our moods."

So, I'll remain seated, keep my hands and feet inside the car at all times, hold on tight, and enjoy the ride.  : )

A Sermon by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, or When We Are Looking For Peace

http://lds.org/ensign/1996/11/the-peaceable-things-of-the-kingdom?lang=eng

Another List, or Disappointment

I liked the whole list thing, so here goes another one:

Faith in God and His individual plan for us is a choice. And when the choice to trust God is made, sweet assurances, such as peace and security, are felt. 

God can help us choose to have faith. One way He does so is by preparing us for current challenges through our past experiences.

Remembering who God is and what the purpose of life is eases disappointment. A proper and true perspective changes everything.

Unpleasant feelings aren't meant to be smothered by pretend happiness.

Sometimes we don't receive strong spiritual impressions or experiences from God because we don't need them at that time. Instead, He'll give us less intense doses of ideas or simple thoughts. He wants us to learn to rely on Him, not just on strong feelings or experiences.

Experience allows us to relate with others.

Simply being oneself is so relieving. Trying to guess what others want or expect is both draining and impossible. Really, how could we hope to please everyone all at once? By trying to be what we hope others want, we may temporarily please some people, but we will unknowingly push away those people who want to be close to us. Our true friends and loved ones don't want to be close to the "us" we want people to like. They want to be close to just us, our true selves.

God is the same way. He loves us as we are. And we don't have to pretend with Him. We can, if we want, be our true selves with Him. It does take some practice and trust, but we can learn to do it more constantly and with greater willingness. It becomes easier and easier the more we feel that God's love is consistent and perfect.

Lifting Burdens: The Atonement of Jesus Christ

Babykins Update

Just an update on Babykins (see post here).  He's great at walking now, just like we knew he would be.     : )

Grapes, or How I Feel About God

“The sun is the majestic central feature of the solar system, and everything else in that system is subservient to it. Yet in some distant village on a small plot of land tended by a struggling and anonymous father caring for the needs of his family, the sun ripens to perfection a single cluster of his grapes as if it had nothing else in all the world to do.”

-Anonymous

In Summary, or Lately

These are a few ideas that summarize some of the things I have been learning lately:

My choices matter. If I want to do good and follow God, He will enable me to do so.  

God will not force me to be helped. I must first choose to be helped - I must strive to do what He asks. He has taught me the things I can do to access His help (prayer, service, attending church, reading His word, heeding the Holy Spirit's guidance). When I choose to do these simple things, I put myself spiritually in places where I can receive His help.

My family is incredible. They love me, laugh with me, and listen to me.  

My friends are wonderful. They're all so different, but they are awesome. They're all supportive and such good, good people.

For my job I teach English to people from other countries who are going to be missionaries for my church. I love them. They are my friends. I also love all of my co-workers. I have met some of my favorite people at work.

We are all given contexts in which we live that can restrict our lives and options. These contexts, though, do not remove our opportunity to choose.

God uses people to teach me things - church leaders, friends, professors.  

And God has things He wants to teach us at certain times. Right now He's helping me see the power of choice and what I can do if I really want to. His eternal plan for us is set up so we can discover and achieve what we truly want. Jesus overcame death and sin for us, which we couldn't do for ourselves. Now, everything else is up to us; we are in the process of choosing what we want our immortal lives to be like. Jesus has offered to be our guide to lasting happiness. If we will let Him, He can guide our choices and lead us to joy. And if it is what we want, He will give us the strength to follow Him. 

Determined vs. Choice

"A second truth about our accountability is to know that we are not the helpless victims of our circumstances. The world tries to tell us that the opposite is true: imperfections in our parents or our faulty genetic inheritance are presented to us as absolving us of personal responsibility. But difficult as circumstances may be, they do not relieve us of accountability for our actions or our inactions. Nephi was right. God gives no commandments to the children of men save He prepares a way for them to obey. However difficult our circumstances, we can repent."

-President Henry B. Eyring

http://lds.org/ensign/1999/11/do-not-delay?lang=eng