Getting Answers to Questions, Big and Small

A friend of mine at work was talking to me about life and religion a few months ago. He said that life is very grey and there are few clear cut answers in difficult/complex decisions. And there are many of those kinds of decisions.

I thought about that for a while. At its face, I agreed. There are many complex decisions that affect many outcomes, and yet I have made many of those decisions relatively easily. I got married quickly and it turned out great. I went on a mission (decision to "give up" two years - actually it was a tremendous investment in so many ways) without any hesitancy. I changed jobs/industries pretty quickly. We've had kids young and its worked out very well. I realize that these are tremendous blessings and people who are better than me in every way haven't had the same outcomes necessarily, but I personally know a lot of people in the same situation. The Lord has some advice for those who are "ignorant" of what to do and need to find answers to questions:

D.C. 136: 32Let him that is ^aignorant ^blearn ^cwisdom by ^dhumbling himself and calling upon the Lord his God, that his ^eeyes may be opened that he may see, and his ears opened that he may hear;

33For my ^aSpirit is sent forth into the world to enlighten the^bhumble and contrite, and to the ^ccondemnation of the ungodly.

The explanation that some would give concerning my blessings would be, "but I can't see how you made those decisions", or like Laman and Lemuel, "God doesn't reveal such things to us" (1 Nephi 15), does not hold water. God helps us have eyes to see and ears to hear as we ask for his help to see and hear and understand.

I know God will help his children. I loves us all very much. (1 Nephi 11:17) However, we must come to him and call upon him in order to be enlightened. I am not great at doing this but hope to be and have certainly enjoyed the blessings of doing it at times.

Feeling the Spirit

Many times we think of "feeling the Spirit" as something that causes our "bosom to burn" because of a verse in D.C.9 that is repeated often. I am not a huge fan of this verse b/c if that's the only time we have the Spirit, then most of us don't feel it very often. In Oliver's case he needed some immediate feedback on what he was doing (translating), so it was important to have a "yes" or a "no" right in the moment. Few of us are in similar situations.

D.C. 50:22 explains that one moment when we feel the Spirit often is when we're learning. And in those moments, both the teacher and the learner can experience certain things that indicate the Spirit is present. D.C. 50: 21-22:

21Therefore, why is it that ye cannot understand and know, that he that receiveth the word by the ^aSpirit of truth receiveth it as it is preached by the Spirit of truth?

22Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are ^aedified and ^brejoicetogether.

If you receive the word or preach the word by the Spirit there will be a few results: 1) you will likely understand something you didn't understand before, be edified (in Spanish edificio means a building; edified means something akin to that - having an increase in knowledge), and/or feel happy.

This week I was teaching in Gospel Doctrine and a man made a comment about Mark 10:18, which we were reading. I have read this verse many times and never understood why Jesus said what he says here. The setting is the rich young man is coming to Jesus asking what he lacks. Here's the first two verses in the encounter. Mark 10:17-18:

17¶And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?

18And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there isnone ^agood but one, that is, God.

The question I have always had is, "why in the world would Jesus say he isn't "good"? He's really good." This man in Sunday School said, "Jesus said what he did to show the rich young man the need for humility. Jesus modeled humility just before asking the rich young man to show humility by giving up what he had and following the Savior. Unfortunately the young man didn't make the connection or follow the example."

Oh dang. He was exactly right. No question that's a great explanation of what was happening. Jesus gave up all he had in Heaven to come down (which he didn't have to do - he was perfect), and he did so because he is humble. The rich young man was being asked to do the same, so Jesus was trying to teach him humility before hand.

I understood something I didn't understand before in that moment, learned that this story was about faith but also largely about humility, and I felt happy. I think that means I felt the Spirit. When we recognize that the Spirit can be felt in this way, not just a burning in the bosom, it becomes more clear that we feel the Spirit often.

Have a good day.

LaDon

Does God see us?

I was reading for our lesson in Sunday School (Jamie and I are subbing this week) and came across these verses in Matthew 10:

29Are not two ^asparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.

30But the very ^ahairs of your head are all numbered.

31Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more ^avalue than many^bsparrows.

Is this true? Does he care for all of us and look out for all of us this much? Yes. My wonderful wife had an experience this week that helped show this.
Life has been a little intense lately (both kids fairly sick, moving, I've been sick, she's been sick, her great-grandma is dying) and that creates stress. Jamie told me yesterday that that stress was being expressed as hard feelings against me (truthfully I'm not around or as helpful as I need to be.

So, she decided to pray and ask for help to get over those feelings building up inside of her (that shows some faith). So, that night she had a dream that dramatically altered her feelings towards me. It was a miracle and happened immediately after she asked for the help.

I have such a great wife. Also, we have a good Heavenly Father. I think he wants to help us as quickly as he can (D.C. 111:11 - I will order all things for your good as fast as ye are able to receive them.) and luckily for us he knows when he can and can't get involved as well as when he should and shouldn't get involved. I trust his judgement and appreciate him answering Jamie's prayer so quickly.

Have a great day.

LaDon

P.S. I share this with Jamie's blessing. She's a humble girl to be willing to let a few of her struggles be known (to the 2 or 3 people who'll read this :) I am very lucky.