Trust in God, Then Go and Do.

I gave a talk a few weeks ago in Willow Ward and I've been asked by a few people for copies of the talk. Sooo I told them I'd post it this week on my blog. I'm not much of a public speaker and I write every line I say at the pulpit before hand. It made it easy to post on here though! I really enjoyed preparing for this talk. The subject was definitely something I needed to dedicate some time to. I hope you enjoy :)

Trust in God, Then Go and Do.

I have been given the opportunity to speak to you today about Trusting in the Lord. I pray that in what I share with you today, you will find something that the Lord wants you to plant in your heart.  I pray also that the spirit will be with me and that I will say the things the Lord wants me to say. My talk is based on a talk that was given by Elder Henry B Eyring last October Conference entitled “Trust in God, then go and do.”

When I was asked to speak on trusting in God, I thought “Trust in God. Ok, simple enough.”  It is something we have all heard before.  It is the base of our religion; to have faith and trust in the Lord. I figured the subject it would be pretty simple and easy to expound upon since it covered basically every doctrinal principle.  After reading through Elder Eyring’s talk I pondered and recapped situations in my life where I had either trusted in God and was blessed, or lacked the faith and faltered.  I started to do some personal research. I browsed the internet looking through many talks that were given on the same topic.  Turns out trying to pick only a few things out of the many MANY amazing talks and lessons was a bit harder than I originally planned.  But I was able to organize my findings around one scripture:

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.”  (Proverbs 3:5)

The scripture starts out by stating “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart”.

To completely trust in the Lord can be difficult sometimes. There are things that happen that scare us and things that happen that can distract us. An example from the scriptures is found In Matthew.  While the apostles were out at sea, Jesus approached them, walking on the water. At first they were afraid, thinking it was spirit, but Jesus told them

“be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And [Jesus] said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”  (Matthew 14:27-31)

Just like Peter, do we sometimes have a moment of doubt?  Do we lack the faith needed to do certain tasks? Do we forget to trust in the Lord when we doubt in our abilities as good parent, teacher, & friend? Do we doubt in the principles of forgiveness, repentance, prayer, families? Do we doubt that Heavenly Father even knows and loves us personally? Or do we exercise faith in Christ and turn to Him for guidance and help?

The next part in Proverbs states “…lean not unto thine own understanding…” 

Faith is not willing your own desires into existence. It's not concentrating on some result or believing in something you want with all your might, trying to make it come true. The first principle of the gospel is not faith in ourselves and in what we desire but faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in his will. Real faith is knowing that the Lord loves us with all of his heart so we can trust in him with all of our hearts. One day he will explain all things to us. While we may not have all the answers in this life, the Lord does, and we can trust Him more than anyone or anything in this world.

Many of you have probably heard of the Serenity Prayer. It read’s:

“God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;

Enjoying one moment at a time;

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;

Taking, as He did, this sinful world

as it is, not as I would have it;

Trusting that He will make all things right

if I surrender to His Will;”

When we know and feel the absolute assurance that God loves us, we will change our questions from 'Why did this happen?' or 'Why doesn't God care about me?' to questions like, 'What can I learn from this experience?' or 'How does the Lord want me to handle this?

Elder DALLIN H. OAKS Shared “The Savior gave us the model for that kind of faith and trust. Remember how he prayed to the Father in the agony of Gethsemane? This was the culminating event of his life, the climactic fulfillment of his mission as our Savior. The gospel of Luke, as corrected in the inspired translation of the Prophet Joseph Smith, describes how he knelt down and prayed: “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done” (JST, Luke 22:42).

Here we see the Savior’s absolute faith and trust in the Father. “Nevertheless,” he said, “not my will, but thine be done.” The Father’s answer was to deny the plea of his Only Begotten Son. The Atonement had to be worked out by that lamb without blemish. But though the Son’s request was denied, his prayer was answered. The scripture records: “And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him” (JST, Luke 22:43).

Strengthened from heaven to do the will of the Father, the Savior fulfilled his mission. “And being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly; and he sweat as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (JST, Luke 22:44).

Here the Savior reminds us that faith, no matter how strong it is, cannot produce a result contrary to the will of him whose power it is. The exercise of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is always subject to the order of heaven, to the goodness and will and wisdom and timing of the Lord. That is why we cannot have true faith in the Lord without also having complete trust in the Lord’s will and in the Lord’s timing. When we have that kind of faith and trust in the Lord, we have true security in our lives.” (The Atonement and Faith, Dallin H Oaks, April 2010 Ensign)

Back to the Proverbs scripture, the next line says “…In all thy ways acknowledge him…”  

I know that Christ should be the center of my life, I have been told that through primary, at home, in seminary, at college, and here at church. This church is all about Christ, he is the Chief cornerstone. The Lord wants us to turn to him. He is there waiting for us to reach to him so that he can reach back. Turning our thoughts to the Lord may sound like a simple task, but there is a great power in that simple principle.

In Alma chapter 36, Alma testifies to his son, “I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day.”  He continues by sharing the story of his conversion. “For I went about with the sons of Mosiah, seeking to destroy the church of God; but behold, God sent his holy angel to stop us by the way…And it came to pass that I fell to the earth; and it was for the space of three days and three night that I could not open my mouth neither had I the use of my limbs.” He describes the pain of knowing his sins by saying in verse 11 “I was struck with such great fear and amazement lest perhaps I should be destroyed” verse 12 “I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins” verse14 “so great had been my iniquities that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror.” Verse 16 “for three days and for three nights was I racked, even with the pains of a damned soul.” Continuing he says “And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world. Now as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death. And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more. And oh what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!”

If we can turn to Christ continually in our lives, we too can experience the power of the joy and marvelous light of Christ.  Alma went on to become a missionary, labored without ceasing that he might bring souls unto repentance.  He shares “Yea, and now behold, O my son, the Lord doth give me exceedingly great joy in the fruit of my labors.” (Alma 36:25)

Throughout my everyday tasks and events, I tend to forget to ALWAYS have the spirit of Christ in everything I do. A couple of months ago Brother Ramirez gave a talk to the Singles Ward about becoming more like Christ. I was able to get a copy of his talk and I’d like to share a bit with you.  He said:

“We have all been commanded to strive to be like Jesus. We are reminded of this goal as we sing the children’s hymn which reads I'm trying to be like Jesus I'm following in his ways I am trying to love as he did in all that I do and say. But that takes more than playing pretend. I would like to become more like Jesus. But for me to take that step, to start that journey, I have to stop making pretend. Becoming like Jesus I have realized takes more than going through the motions and playing the part.

… Becoming like Jesus is a process that takes more. How much more? It takes more than saying prayers that haven't changed in length or in content in years, it takes more than reading the scriptures on occasion, it takes more than looking at the clock during Sacrament meeting waiting for the High Councilor to be done, it takes more than being nice only to those you want to be nice to, it takes more than avoiding those who have offended you versus actually forgiving them, it takes more than just wearing the CTR ring, it takes more than just saying you love your kids and wife but actually turning off the TV and leading a family home evening, it takes more than smiling at your Bishop on Sunday but criticizing his decisions on Monday, it takes more than just fast forwarding the bad parts of the rated R movie, it takes more than avoiding the worst of sins while indulging in the little ones, it takes more than just having a temple recommend that never gets used, it takes more than taking up space in Seminary half asleep so your parents won't take away your driving privileges, it takes more than hanging out instead of planning an actual date night for your sweetheart, it takes more than just tolerating someone's voice in the choir, it takes more than wandering the halls during relief society, elders quorum and Sunday school class, it takes more than memorizing the phone number of your elders quorum president so that you can screen your calls and not have to help people move, it takes more than meticulously calculating how much top ramen and water costs to decide how much you will give for your fast offerings, it takes more than showing up to sacrament just in the nick of time to hear the amen of the sacrament prayers, it takes more than just biting your tongue, it takes more than wearing modest clothing most of the time, it takes more than just not playing that one song at a church dance, you know the one, the one on your ipod with those lyrics that you are not so sure about that you listen to at home, it takes more than being embarrassed for getting caught but actually feeling sorrow for sin, it takes more than saying Bishop I need help but also saying how can I help, it takes more than saying hi to a member of the ward at Fred Meyer and calling it home teaching, it takes more than coming home with a paycheck but actually helping with the dishes too. Yes brothers and sisters, it takes more to become like Christ, more effort, more forgiveness, more humility, more prayer, more sincerity......."

  

This leads me right into the last part of the Proverbs scripture. “… and he shall direct thy paths.”

We have a work to do. We are God’s tools here on earth to do his work and we can trust the Lord to provide the means to do his work.  Nephi is known as the man who would go and do. He had faith and trust that the Lord would help him accomplish His work. He did not doubt the power of the Lord. He said “And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.” (1 Nephi 3:7)

With everything asked of us there is a way to accomplish it. The commandments are not an impossible task, if we completely have faith and trust in the Lord. We can follow Nephi’s example of having strong faith when he said to his brothers “If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done.” (1 Nephi 17:50)

In his talk, Elder Eyring told a story of when faith and trust in the Lord had helped him in keeping the commandments of God. He shared,

“That trust has blessed my life and the lives of my family. Years ago I heard President Ezra Taft Benson speak in a conference like this. He counseled us to do all we could to get out of debt and stay out. He mentioned mortgages on houses. He said that it might not be possible, but it would be best if we could pay off all our mortgage debt.

I turned to my wife after the meeting and asked, “Do you think there is any way we could do that?” At first we couldn’t. And then by evening I thought of a property we had acquired in another state. For years we had tried to sell it without success.

But because we trusted God and a few words from the midst of His servant’s message, we placed a phone call Monday morning to the man in San Francisco who had our property listed to sell. I had called him a few weeks before, and he had said then, “We haven’t had anyone show interest in your property for years.”

But on the Monday after conference, I heard an answer that to this day strengthens my trust in God and His servants.

The man on the phone said, “I am surprised by your call. A man came in today inquiring whether he could buy your property.” In amazement I asked, “How much did he offer to pay?” It was a few dollars more than the amount of our mortgage.

A person might say that was only a coincidence. But our mortgage was paid off. And our family still listens for any word in a prophet’s message that might be sent to tell what we should do to find the security and peace God wants for us.”

He concluded his talk by testifying “I know the servants of God who will speak to you during this conference. They are called of God to give messages to His children. You show your trust in Him when you listen with the intent to learn and repent and then you go and do whatever He asks. If you trust God enough to listen for His message in every sermon, song, and prayer in this conference, you will find it. And if you then go and do what He would have you do, your power to trust Him will grow, and in time you will be overwhelmed with gratitude to find that He has come to trust you.”

General Conference is coming up again soon. Another opportunity for God to give us words of wisdom that applies to this very time in our lives.  Our needs vary because each of us is a unique child of God and I know that God knows each one of us individually. We can trust in the Lord to send messages of encouragement, correction, and direction fitted to each of our needs thru his prophets.  I challenge all of you to approach the days of General Conference with a prayer or desire in your heart, and if you turn to Him for guidance, the Lord will provide you a message thru his prophets.  I know that God lives and knows me personally. I know that he knows what I am going through and what I am capable of.  I know that He will guide me along the right path as long as I turn to Heavenly Father and trust Him. I hope that I am also a useful tool in bringing to pass his work.  I am thankful for this gospel and for the prophet’s council and direction, and I am anxious to know what new things He wants to teach me.  I say this in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.