Trusting Our Father

Following the Lord’s servants is harder when what they ask of us differs from what we wanted ourselves.

The desire to change God’s eternal truth has a long history. It started before the world began, when Satan rebelled against God’s plan, seeking selfishly to destroy human agency. Following this pattern, people like Sherem, Nehor, and Korihor have argued that faith is foolish, revelation is irrelevant, and whatever we want to do is right. Sadly, so very often these deviations from God’s truth have led to great sorrow.

Satan wanted to destroy agency. In mortality he insists freedom is defined by defying truth.

Elder Neil L. Andersen once taught that we should not be surprised “if at times [our] personal views are not initially in harmony with the teachings of the Lord’s prophet. These are moments of learning,” he said, “of humility, when we go to our knees in prayer. We walk forward in faith, trusting in God, knowing that with time we will receive more spiritual clarity from our Heavenly Father.”

If we feel that what the project says is always in harmony with our views we need to carefully inspect whether we are warping his words to fit our perspective. (Thankfully that won’t always be the conclusion we must come to.)

Now, the Apostles lived in the same world, and they faced the same social pressures as the disciples who walked away. However, in this moment, they chose their faith and trusted God, thus preserving blessings God gives to those who stay.

Perhaps you, like me, sometimes find yourself on both sides of this decision. When we find it difficult to understand or embrace God’s will, it is comforting to remember that He loves us as we are, wherever we are. And He has something better for us. If we reach out to Him, He will assist us.

While reaching out to Him can be difficult, just as the father who sought healing for his son was told by the Savior, “All things are possible to him that believeth.” In our moments of struggle, we too can cry out, “Help thou [my] unbelief.”

Just because we doubt doesn’t mean that He will love us less or turn from us.

Several months ago, a stake president and I visited a sister in his stake and her young adult son. After years away from the Church, wandering difficult and unfriendly paths, she had returned. During our visit, we asked her why she had come back.

“I had made a mess of my life,” she said, “and I knew where I needed to be.”

I then asked her what she had learned in her journey.

With some emotion, she shared that she had learned that she needed to attend church long enough to break the habit of not coming and that she needed to stay until it was where she wanted to be. Her return was not easy, but as she exercised faith in the Father’s plan, she felt the Spirit return.

And then she added, “I have learned for myself that God is good and that His ways are better than mine.”

Perhaps the clearest way to know the condition of it heart is whether we want to follow the Lord.