The Hand of the Lord

In the October 2007 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Eyring encouraged the members of the Church to look for ways of recognizing God’s kindness in their lives.  “My point is to urge you to find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness” (“O Remember, Remember,” October 2007 General Conference).  He also shared with us some of the blessings that came in to his life as a result:

“More than gratitude began to grow in my heart. Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I felt more gratitude for the softening and refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. And I grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our remembrance—even things we did not notice or pay attention to when they happened.”

According to Pres. Eyring, as we strive to recognize the hand of God in our lives, we grow in gratitude, testimony, recognition of prayers answered, and more confidence in the Spirit.

When I heard this talk, I decided that I would follow and experiment as well.  I can add my witness to Pres. Eyring’s that as we spend the time to recognize the good that God has done in our lives that it helps us to be more grateful and builds our testimony.  Recently I have seen a great blessing in my life that came so gradually and imperceptibly that the only way I was able to recognize the extent of the blessing has been to review how God has blessed me and also in discussion with my beautiful bride.

Over a year ago I was a little dissatisfied with where I was in my career.  I had recently just graduated from college and felt like I wasn’t in a position that utilized my talents appropriately.  Don’t get me wrong, I was very grateful to be working and for the company I was (and still am) working at; however, I just didn’t feel like it was the right thing for me to be doing.  I attended an information session where they were presenting on a new opportunity in the company and were soliciting applications.  During that meeting I received specific guidance from the Holy Ghost of ways that I should modify my resume in order for me to get the job–if I wanted it.  I decided to make the changes to my resume and submitted it.  Because of those specific modifications, I received the job offer and it has been a blessing for me and my family.  Heavenly Father has been with us every step of the way, He has provided for our family in surprising ways (like bringing in additional income that we weren’t expecting from all the travels that I have done), and He has directed our paths to make significant changes in our lives (the most recent being our move to Omaha, Nebraska–something that we are still in the process of completing).  Needless to say, Heavenly Father has blessed us beyond belief and this blessing was realized so subtly and gradually that it would have been difficult to remember or identify had my wife and I not taken the time to consider these matters.  I know that Heavenly Father is watching over our family and guiding us!

President Eyring goes on to add another blessing for taking specific and deliberate time to recognize how God is blessing your life: it is one way to break out of the pride cycle.  In the Book of Mormon we read of several separate occasions when the Nephites get trapped in what has been termed the pride cycle:  they are suffering, repent and turn to God, are greatly and abundantly blessed for doing so and for their righteousness, become prideful and forgetful of the Lord, which then causes them great suffering, and the cycle repeats.

“And thus we can behold how false, and also the unsteadiness of the hearts of the children of men; yea, we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those who put their trust in him. Yea, and we may see at the very time when he doth prosper his people…yea, and in fine, doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his people; yea, then is the time that they do harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord their God, and do trample under their feet the Holy One—yea, and this because of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity.” (Helaman 12:1-2)

Pres. Eyring encourages us to seek the Spirit for help in remembering the things which the Lord has done for us and in remembering the blessings that we have received.  I know that God blesses us and is very much involved with our lives–it just may take some deliberate attention in order to identify these blessings.  So how have you seen the hand of God in your life today?

 

If you liked the “O Remember, Remember” talk by Pres. Eyring, you may also like this one called “A Legacy of Testimony”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Judge Not That Ye Be Not Judged

Have you ever set out to do something but, in the process of the doing, actually ended up with something else?  I did that when I was preparing this post.

Adequate rest is something that is important, not only to me, but to our physical, emotional, intellectual and I believe even our spiritual health.  In D&C 88:124, we read, “cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated.”   I originally set out to understand this scripture better and to post some ideas about sleep and its importance.  However, as I began to do some research, my thoughts turned to a different portion of that verse, a portion that I believe is something a little more important for me to work on–and hopefully you will find value in it as well.

Earlier in that same verse we read “cease to find fault one with another” and that is the portion that came out as I studied this week.  When our Savior visited the New World and taught amongst the Nephites, He taught them some of the same principles He taught the Jews on the Mount of Olives:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother: Let me pull the mote out of thine eye—and behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother’s eye. (3 Ne 14:1-5; see also Matthew 7:1-5).

Our Savior was very clear when He taught this principle.  We must know that everyone will one day stand before our Father in Heaven to be judged according to our works here on this earth.  Heavenly Father, a perfectly just and merciful being who knows everything, will be more likely to have mercy on us if we have shown mercy in our lives, especially when it comes to passing judgment.  The Redeemer of mankind even goes a step further.  Not only should we not judge, but instead of focusing on the faults of those around us, we should instead focus on fixing our own faults.  To be honest this is hard to do because it is so easy to see to identify the shortcomings of those around us (especially those closest to us) and so easy to cover up or justify our own shortcomings.

One reason why we shouldn’t be so quick to judge is because we can never fully understand where the other person is coming from or what experiences shaped their present behavior.  I have a sort of foot-in-mouth experience that illustrates this principle.  Recently I was working with a salesman over an item that I wished to buy.  I had done a lot of the research before hand and just needed to confirm a few facts.  After I agreed to buy the item the salesman told me the final price–which was much more than I had expected because I hadn’t anticipated the sales tax.   I told him that I would need to go home and talk to my wife first and we arranged for him to call me early the next morning before I went in to work.  He knew that I worked early and would be unable to talk to him at work.  He also wanted to close the sale so that he could earn his commission–so I figured he would be highly motivated to call me back.  I woke up extra early the following morning in order to get everything done I needed and still have time to talk with this gentleman.  The appointed hour came and went and there was no phone call.  I tried calling him but with call centers all around the nation and the way their phone system was set up I was unable to get a hold of him.  Ultimately I had to go to work without closing the sale–so I sent him an e-mail letting him know that I was disappointed that he hadn’t called me like we arranged.  The salesman replied back very kindly and let me know that he was still interested in getting a hold of me; however, his son who was teething had a fever the morning he was supposed to call me and so he couldn’t drop him off at his daycare.  As a father of a now 7-month-old who is also teething, I felt bad for being so quick to judge.  The truth is, we never really know the whole story and so we need to not be as quick to pass judgment and should try to be a little more understanding.  I have another example posted earlier you may be interested in reading.

Another principle that helps us to be less judgmental is that God is in control and vengeance is His (see Mormon 8:20). After being betrayed by someone he trusted and forced, at gun point, from his family, Joseph Smith was paraded from town to town until he eventually ended up in Liberty Jail. He knew of the persecution in Missouri following Governor Boggs’ Extermination Order and was left wondering what would happen with all those saints, and, of course, he worried about his family (and if he’d ever see them again). Throughout his incarceration he was under the care of wicked men who swore and bragged about the evils they had done to the Mormon people. He was constantly concerned about his life and that of his fellow prisoners. For 4 cold, winter months he sat in a prison that was too short for him to stand up right and survived on food that was barely edible and sometimes even contaminated. (for more information about Liberty Jail and what the Prophet learned there, see this talk).

If anyone had the right to pass judgment it would have been Joseph at this time. However, vengeance belongs to the Lord. The Lord comforted Joseph and then explained some of the just retribution that He would pour out upon those that were then persecuting the Saints: “And they who do charge thee with transgression, their hope shall be blasted, and their prospects shall melt away as the hoar frost melteth before the burning rays of the rising sun…Also because their hearts are corrupted, and the things which they are willing to bring upon others, and love to have others suffer, may come upon themselves to the very uttermost; That they may be disappointed also, and their hopes may be cut off; And not many years hence, that they and their posterity shall be swept from under heaven” (D&C 121:11,13-15).  The Lord is much more capable of taking care of these things than we are anyway, so we should just let Him do so.  He is in control, He knows what is best, and He is the better judge (if you would like to read more on the principle of Compensation, read the talk, “Come What May and Love It” by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin).

In order to avoid being too judgmental we should develop more charity.  Moroni, from The Book of Mormon, teaches us, “And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up…beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things…Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ” (Moroni 7:45,48).  As we seek for charity, we learn to see others as God sees them and we are less inclined to judge.  I know that it is no easy task to not judge–this is a hard commandment! Instead it is easy to be judgmental and in fact we mostly do it without even recognizing it.  Let us strive to be more Christlike and pray with all our energy to be filled with Charity that we may be able to keep this commandment and treat our neighbor the way they need to be treated.