This week I had a rather difficult but good experience. It reminded me a little of my mission; hence the picture below. One of my readers knows a bit about this experience because we had a couple of conversations about it. If any of my readers are curious as to the details they can ask me directly.
Due to this experience I've thought a lot about faith, hope, and sacrifice. I thought about how the Lord called upon Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. I thought about how hard this had to be for Abraham; he and Sarah had prayed many days and nights for Isaac. The Lord had promised Abraham that his seed would be as numerous as the sands upon the sea shore and that they would have the gospel. Through Isaac this promise would be realized along with many others. Most importantly Isaac was his son; while I’m not a father, I know that a good and righteous father deeply loves his son. I can only imagine how heartbreaking it must have been when the Lord asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. Then Abraham had a few days with Isaac and two of the servants to travel to the land of Moriah. I can’t imagine how agonizing it must have been for Abraham.
I have learned that sometimes the Lord asks us to make a sacrifice, and sometimes, like Abraham, He accounts our desire and sincerity to us as righteousness. When we are called upon by the Lord to make a sacrifice, we must have faith. There are also times when like Abraham, we must hope against hope, and have faith that the Lord could fulfill the promises that He had made. This is a principle that is easy to understand but is harder to live. I have learned that we must grow our faith on a daily basis so that when we are called on to sacrifice that we may find that we have faith stronger than sight and a hope grounded in the promises of the Savior. One of my favorite talks is “But If Not” by Elder Simmons, you can read it here.
The point of the talk is that our faith should not depend on people or the consequences of our choices. One of my favorite characters Alvin Maker was described as a man who always does the right thing no matter what the consequences; I personally hope that one day that some can describe me that way.
After this difficult situation, I know that the Lord has promised me great blessings. I don’t think that I’ve seen most of them yet but I know they’re coming. If you are going through a rough time know that the Lord is aware of your situation and that He cares and to quote Elder Holland “He is your Heavenly Father, and surely He matches with His own the tears His children shed.” I believe that. Exercise faith and do the right thing. I promise you that you will be blessed. Have a good week!
I've recently reread the book "Believing Christ" by Stephen E. Robinson. In this, he said, "Brothers and sisters, to have faith in Jesus Christ is not merely to believe that he is who he says he is, to believe in Christ. Sometimes, to have faith in Christ is also to believe Christ." I've been trying to apply and focus on that more in my life. I've been questioning why certain things have to happen the way and the timing in which they do, but like you said, I know they will happen and I know there is a reason for these things. I need to have better faith in what He has said and promised and know that His timing is best; a part of having faith in Him is having faith in His timing.
ReplyDeleteI agree part of faith is having faith in the Lord's timing like Elder Oaks talked about in his talk "Timing". I found that it's easier to have faith in His timing when you realize that He has your best intentions at heart. He'll give a trial or blessing when He knows you need it the most. It may not seem convenient at the time but in the long run you will see how it was well timed. I've started seeing that in some of the things that have happened in my life. I'd recommend that you try doing the same thing.
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