Faith in the Lord’s timing

     When I graduated from high school, I was determined to major in film and had medical school aspirations. At the start of my sophomore year of college two things happened to change my plan. One, I developed a fear of blood. Two, I had completed an internship which guided me to not major in film. That was not what I had planned.

Upon returning from a full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I was pretty sure I was going to marry a certain young man. This young man and I had dated before my mission, and he had waited for me to return. After a few months of dating post-mission, it became clear that Heavenly Father did not want us dating. We broke up. That was not what I had planned. However, it was part of the Lord’s plan. My first commitment is to follow the Savior. Even though those experiences were difficult, I was comforted knowing I was following what I felt was God’s will. I love the following quote from Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

“How fundamentally different my life is than I had sought to plan! My professional life has changed. My personal life has changed. But the commitment I made to the Lord—to put Him first in my life and to be ready for whatever He would have me do—has carried me through these changes of eternal importance.

In all the important decisions in our lives, what is most important is to do the right thing. Second, and only slightly behind the first, is to do the right thing at the right time. People who do the right thing at the wrong time can be frustrated and ineffective. They can even be confused about whether they made the right choice when what was wrong was not their choice but their timing.”

I feel God guided me through the above mentioned changes in my life. Like Elder Oaks mentioned, I could be confused about whether my relationship break-up was a matter of poor timing. It could have been. If we are trust God enough to ask for His help in major choices, we must trust Him enough to follow the answers we receive. There will be times in our lives when we will be led to make decisions that do not result in our immediate happiness, or contradict plans we have made. I believe those are the experiences in which we must trust in the Lord’s timing. 

“Since faith in the timing of the Lord may be tried, let us learn to say not only, ‘Thy will be done,’ but patiently also, ‘Thy timing be done.’” –Elder Neal Maxwell

“A great scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants declares that a particular spiritual experience will come to us “in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will” (D&C 88:68). This principle applies to revelation and to all of the most important events in our lives: birth, marriage, death, and even our moves from place to place.

Wise are those who make this commitment: I will put the Lord first in my life and I will keep His commandments. The performance of that commitment is within everyone’s control. We can fulfill that commitment without regard to what others decide to do, and that commitment will anchor us no matter what timing the Lord directs for the most important events in our lives.” – Elder Dallin H. Oaks

Don’t face the world alone. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” (Prov. 3:5.)

Live to have trust in the Lord.

What experiences have you had in which you trusted in the Lord’s timing?

Seeking the Companionship of the Holy Ghost

Communication is one of the most important skills we can develop. It can be a tool for good just as it can be a tool for bad. Effective communication is something to celebrate. Mis-communication can lead to headaches and heartaches. One of the ways God communicates with man is through His Holy Spirit. This is why seeking to understand the promptings we receive from the Holy Spirit of God is directly related to our happiness. When we are keeping the commandments of God, we will receive the associated blessings; including a knowledge that we are pleasing God.  For this purpose, it is important that we understand God’s will for us.  It is important that our two-way communication with God is effective.

I have been struggling to recognize the promptings of the Holy Spirit the last few months. I thought my lack of understanding could be due to the Holy Spirit speaking to me differently than it had in the past. As I read an address by Elder David A Bednar of the quorum of the twelve apostles, I realized that the Holy Spirit was not speaking differently, I was listening differently. I was looking for God to speak to me in some new way. In doing so, I had subtly closed my heart to God. I had subconsciously decided I did not want to hear what He had to say to me, and was looking for answers that fit my will. I was not respectful to God’s will in the way I should have been.

Elder David A Bednar said in a university devotional, “If you and I have a sincere desire for the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, invite His influence into our lives through our obedience and actions, and learn to heed simple promptings and to do so quickly, then I testify and promise that we will be able to tell the difference between our own emotions telling us what we want to hear and the Holy Ghost telling us what we need to hear” (“Receiving, Recognizing, and Responding to the Promptings of the Holy Ghost,” [Brigham Young University–Idaho devotional, Aug. 31, 1999]; byui.edu).

How have you learned to recognize the promptings of the Holy Spirit?

A few of my Favorite Scriptures about Spiritual Promptings: 1 Kgs. 19:12; D&C 85:6–7; 1 Sam. 3:10