When life has you by the ears and comes at you hard from every direction you may feel overwhelmed by the pressures of work, education, family responsibilities, personal weakness, or religious duties. Whether rich or poor, old or young, healthy or unhealthy there are enough problems in life to overwhelm any of us. This is one of many reasons why the Lord has blessed us with His word. Please consider the following instruction from our Savior:
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30).
God is the giver of all things and the scriptures record account after account of the Lord blessing the faithful, and withholding from those who ignore his will or reject him. Whatever your problems may be in this life we encourage you to…
1. Establish a relationship with the Lord through prayer
2. Come to know his will through a study of the scriptures
3. Call down his blessings upon you by participating in sacred covenants and ordinances
4. Enable the laws of justice by being faithful to all of your covenants and the commandments of the Lord.
There are many Saints who have learned that the great secret to temporal and spiritual fulfillment lies in doing the Lord’s will. Forget yourself and seek His glory. By doing so you will find the troubles of this world begin to work themselves out.
If you are unemployed or unhappy with your circumstances attend the temple and serve your neighbor. If you are floundering in your education then be more diligent in your scripture study. If you have a personal weakness that seems impossible to overcome, take it daily to the Lord in personal prayer. If your family seems to be falling apart, make and keep sacred covenants… more often. The last thing you will want to do in trying times is distance yourself from the Lord's blessings. As you do the right things the Lord is “bound” to bless you by the eternal laws of Justice… and there is nothing He wants more than to bless you for your faithfulness.
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2 comments:
I have been amazed at the Lord's ability to turn an ugly set of circumstances into a positive, uplifting, instructive, experience. But this can only happen if we let Him. He not only suffered the quantitative balance of our sins, he also passed through all of our suffering (physical and emotional), sicknesses, pains, and more. I believe this not only gives Him perfect empathy, but it also allows Him to lessen/shorten our suffering. I have felt His healing hand do so in my own life. How bad would it have been without Christ's atonement? Would all emotional pain accumulate throughout life, never finding an end? We will never know how bad it would have been without Him. Speaking of the suffering we would have had to bear, He says:
"how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not" (D&C 19:15)
I, for one, am glad to not know how bad it would have been.
One more thought. A wise man once explained to me that simply "being good" is not enough. To navigate life's complexities, one must both be good and be good at living (i.e. skilled). Many a virtuous person who is not skilled at life has made life much harder for themselves through ineffective choices. We must be good, moral, virtuous, righteous, steadfast, covenant keeping people. AND we must also develop the skills of living. ("harmless as doves and wise as serpents")
I too have found that following the gospel path is simple. It all boils down to one's grit. I made covenants and I'll keep them no matter what! Life seems to get complicated when we gray up the area between covenant/commandment keeping and breaking. Rationalizations and justifications entering the equation should be a huge red flag that we are muddying up the clear water, obscuring the line, and making the whole situation worse.
O.k. you're making progress by actually having an entry on your blog. But I happen to have an insiders perspective. Kind of cheating don't you think Mr. President. ;-) All joking aside. Nice message, and one we all need to be reminded of ESPECIALLY when times get tough and it feels difficult to walk the walk. If we can just remember that those are the times we need to buckle down, have faith and press on.
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