This week has been good, I suppose, but a lot of things this way just kind of haven't been going my way. It's been kind of hard.
But through these trials, Heavenly Father taught me something.
I see it as a dark tunnel I'm traveling through.
Heavenly Father has my hand, but sometimes I let go.
He always has his arm outstretched, but sometimes I choose to go my own way, because I have agency to choose to follow or not.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel that Heavenly Father sees shining brightly, but through my imperfectness, I can't see it.
Sometimes, I don't understand where I'm being led, and sometimes I just want to go my own way, because the natural man wants to be in charge. And of course, I am in charge, but I am never going to be able to get to that shining light at the end of the tunnel if I don't depend on Heavenly Father.
Right now it's just hard.
I do have a question, though, if someone could answer it for me.
How do we just depend on Heavenly Father all of the time? I mean, when things aren't going our way, when we have trials, when we aren't necessarily happy? Doesn't Heavenly Father want us to be happy? How do we stay with Him, and trust Him when we can't see the light?
I do have a testimony that he knows what's best for me, and that he'll lead me in the right way, but how to I stay with Him? How do I not ever let go of that always outstretched hand?
Please help me!
I love you all!
Love,
Gracious
Looking back on different times in my life, the things which stand out as the most meaningful are the hard times. One of the ways I stay close to the Savior when times are tough is by remembering that He is in control. He might not take the trials away, but He will help you through them if you look to Him. And when you have times that feel like He is not there, it's so you can appreciate when He is.
ReplyDeleteThe way I keep that focus is by praying for trials. President Eyring said once that he prays for trials to test his faith. It's a really powerful concept.
So there you go, maybe try some of that, it works for me!
Thank you!!!
DeleteI agree, when we are going through a trial it sometimes feels blurry. But when we look through the gospel glasses things become clear as we focus on the Savior. One of the ways you can focus is being thankful. Yesterday as I got together with my family and we talked about the importance of being thankful I thought about how much easier it was to rely on Christ when I was being thankful. When you realize all that He has given you, you want to stay near Him-just as much as He wants to stay near you. :)
DeleteI really love that, Jordan. It reminds me of a quote I heard: " We know that the Savior has the Power to calm our storms; but sometimes He chooses instead to calm our hearts." I guess we always just need to know that He always has the power, and always be ready with Our hands outstretched for His. He'll take it. :)
DeleteI think too, we need to notice when we are not connected to Him, and then do what we need to do to get ourselves back to that outstretched hand. We won't be connected to Him all of the time, that is what we are here on earth to practice doing, but the more we try, the better we are at staying there and knowing when we are away. There are a variety of ways to re-establish that connection - repent, express gratitude, serve someone in need, pray, study God's word,, etc. we just need to be diligent in that practice, I think. Great question, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I hope your week is going better.
ReplyDeleteI agree. To take His hand, we must trust Him in everything. To trust Him includes following His personal will for you. Do the things that keep you close to the spirit, so that He can tell you which step to take next.
ReplyDeleteIf the next step isn't clear, go forward in faith, living what you already know.
If you trust Him with every aspect of your life, you reward and joy will be eternal.
Stay strong! We love you! :)
Gracious, thank you for posting this, because this week was no walk through the park for me either! :P I just have to keep reminding myself that if I let God be in charge, He'll take my hand and guide me through it all. I think that one of the ways that I try to keep Him with me always is to continuously look for opportunities to serve. I feel like when I'm down and I feel like I can't get up, the first thing that comes to my mind is find someone to serve. Service is one of the best therapies I've found out there, so I suggest giving it a try. Love you, Girl! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you all SO much! :)
ReplyDelete