I haven't posted in a LONG time. There really hasn't been a lot to post. But today, April 23, 2017 I gave a talk in sacrament meeting. I'd like to share it:
A few years ago while serving in a BYU stake, I gave a talk in Stake Conference. When I sat down on the stand before the meeting began, I looked at my talk to refresh it in my mind and noticed the first page was missing. My heart sank! What was I going to do? I HAVE to have everything written out to survive! My mind will go completely blank! As I thought that, words came into my mind. “Where is your faith? You’ve prepared well, I’ll help you recall the words!” I was humbled and thought of my faith in God and His ability to help me. And help me He did. I remembered what was most important and was able to give the talk without anyone knowing I had left the first page at home.
My talk today is on faith.
Pres. Uchtdorf gave a talk on faith in October 2016. In that talk he said: Faith is a strong conviction about something we believe—a conviction so strong that it moves us to do things that we otherwise might not do. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
This tells us that Faith is an action...a conviction so strong that it moves us to do things that we otherwise might not do. It makes me think of the scripture that says: Faith without works is dead. Which makes me think WE HAVE to have action in our faith or it will die! We will lose our faith.
Faith is hope. With faith we hope for something we can’t see. We hope for something more or something better or something different.
Pres Uchtdorf brought out 3 things about faith that I want to cover today….
1. Our faith cannot compel God to force another person to choose righteousness. He will not take anyone’s free agency away.
2. We cannot force our will on God and we must trust Him.
3. Faith comes to the humble, the diligent and those who endure.
- Quoting Pres. Uchtdorf: ...as painful as it might be for our Father in Heaven, He will not force anyone to choose the path of righteousness.
We see this truth in the Book of Mormon. When you consider the amount of faith Lehi had, you know he prayed earnestly and constantly for his sons, Laman and Lemuel. Heavenly Father sent angels to them, they saw God’s hand in getting the brass plates, in Nephi building a boat, in the way food was provided for them in the wilderness when all of their bows were broken. They had many opportunities to choose to follow Christ, but God never forced them. He allowed them to choose. And no amount of faith on Lehi’s part could change that.
In 2 Nephi 1: Lehi is on his death bed and says:
Awake! and arise from the dust, and hear the words of a trembling parent, whose limbs ye must soon lay down in the cold and silent grave,.... I desire that ye should remember to observe the statutes and the judgments of the Lord; …..My heart hath been weighed down with sorrow from time to time,.....And now that my soul might have joy in you, and that my heart might leave this world with gladness because of you, that I might not be brought down with grief and sorrow to the grave, arise from the dust, my sons, and be men, and be determined in one mind and in one heart,united in all things, that ye may not come down into captivity;......O my sons, that these things might not come upon you, but that ye might be a choice and a favored people of the Lord. But behold, his will be done; for his ways are righteousness forever.
It’s obvious that Lehi understands God’s ways. It’s definitely Lehi’s desire to have his son’s live righteous lives, but He knows God won’t force them to do his will. So Lehi dies, and unfortunately Laman and Lemuel never follow in their father’s footsteps...despite the great amount of faith he possessed. God will not force us how to act. We have our agency.
2. We cannot force God to comply with our desires—no matter how right we think we are or how sincerely we pray. Dieter Uchtdorf
I personally have experienced this in my life. I apologize to those who have heard my story before. 34 years ago this month, I gave birth to our 3rd daughter. Meggie Roper. Let me go back 2 days before her birth. It was a Sunday, I had 2 small children, 39 weeks pregnant and was the primary president. I don’t really remember much about that morning except that I’m sure it was a hectic busy morning considering my circumstances. What I do remember is being home after church and preparing a meal for my family and thinking, I had not felt any life in my baby. I assumed because I was so busy I just hadn’t noticed so I started paying more attention. As the day wore on I talked to my nurse sister-in-law who told me that was probably a sign that I was going to go into labor. Good news RIGHT? By bedtime when I still hadn’t felt any movement at all, I wasn’t so sure and I remember praying desperately to Heavenly Father to not let anything be wrong with my baby. Through a sleepless night I plead many times with Heavenly Father. I KNEW his power and I KNEW he could bring life to this baby. I KNEW it! But unfortunately, I was asking for MY will to be done. Despite the amount of faith I thought I had, Meggie was stillborn. It was not God’s will to have her live. But my faith never dwindled. I still believe He could have brought her back to life. BUT He had other plans. I have faith that Meggie lives. That she is living a good and productive life on the other side of the vale.
We cannot force God to comply with our desires—no matter how right we think we are or how sincerely we pray. Pres. Uchtdorf continues: the purpose of faith is not to change God’s will but to empower us to act on God’s will. Faith is trust—trust that God sees what we cannot and that He knows what we do not. Dieter Uchtdorf
Continuing Pres. Uchtdorf: Faith means that we trust not only in God’s wisdom but that we trust also in His love. It means trusting that God loves us perfectly, that everything He does—every blessing He gives and every blessing He, for a time, withholds—is for our eternal happiness.8
With this kind of faith, though we may not understand why certain things happen or why certain prayers go unanswered, we can know that in the end everything will make sense. “All things [will] work together for good to them that love God.”9
All will be made right. All will be well. Dieter Uchtdorf
Elder Holland reiterated this point in this past conference when he said: Trust God and believe in good things to come.
Heavenly Father didn’t answer my pleading but He did bring me comfort and peace in a time when I needed it. I knew He loved me and had and has a bigger plan than what I can always see.
That’s what faith is! Trust! Trust in his Love; Trust in His direction; Trust in HIS plan.
3. Faith comes to the humble, the diligent, the enduring. Dieter Uchtdorf
To emphasize this point Pres. Uchtdorf tells the beautiful story of the 4th floor last door--the missionary conversion of his wife Harriet and her family. If you don’t remember it, go look it up. It’s a heart-warming story but today I want to share a different story that I believe exemplifies the same point: Again I apologize to those who have heard this story.
42 years ago, Kim left on his mission to Hamburg Germany. His father had been diagnosed several months previously with terminal cancer. When his family came to the airport to say goodbye, (they use to do that) He said goodbye to his father thinking this would be the last time he would see him in this life. His father though promised him he would be there when he returned from his mission. 22 months later, Kim’s father was holding onto life with every bit of strength he had. He was in a great amount of pain and was completely bedridden. Everyone knew he was holding on for Kim to come home. Finally Kim’s oldest brother called him and told him of his dad’s condition and asked if he would come home just a few weeks early so his dad would be relieved of his pain. Kim lovingly told him it was ok for his dad to die. He never expected to see him. Tell Dad to go!. It’s ok. Well, that didn’t go over well and a couple of days later, Kim received a call from his mission president. He had been notified of his dad’s condition, he knew and understood Kim’s desire but He, the mission president, was making the final decision. He was to pack his bags immediately and get on the next train to the mission home. Within 48 hours Kim was at his father’s bedside. His dad was conscious and alert. Kim was able to speak to him for a couple of hours before he slipped into a coma and peacefully and quietly left this world. His faith HAD sustained him. He was humble, diligent and enduring. He promised his son He would be his support for his full 2 year mission. God’s will was in compliance to His will and his prayers were answered.
In this life we NEED faith. Faith that God loves us so much and that He will help us through all things. Life isn’t always easy and doesn’t always go the way we think it will but if we trust God and have faith in Him and his ways, all things will work out for good. I know that God will never force his will or our will on anyone else. I know that we can not force our will onto God. I also know that if we are humble and diligent and enduring He will take care of us.
I challenge each of you today, to do all you can in YOUR power to have faith. Do those simple things that we are asked to do -- read your scriptures, say your prayers, attend your church meetings and the temple, and be obedient, and you will have the faith needed to move you into action. This is my prayer and my testimony….
