I had a wonderful study today- it related a lot to what we were talking about this weekend- balance in all things is the key!
As I took the sacrament the other day, I was pondering over how to become more balanced. My thoughts turned to Christ, and I thought, how did He balance His life? All He ever did was go out of His way to serve others, elevate, inspire, and leave things better than he found them. He must have had such an exhausting life! And compared to how long we are here on earth- his time was extremely short- especially his actual ministry. But think of all the incredible miracles He was able to accomplish in such a short amount of time! And how was all of that possible? Everything Christ did points back to our Father in Heaven. "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgement is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." (John 5:30) Christ shows us that giving our hearts completely to God enables us to access the enabling power of his atonement, and in turn grants us the ability to accomplish God's will, no matter how difficult or impossible it may seem.
The two questions I asked myself this morning as I started my study were:
How does Christ put God first?
How can I better put God first?
And then I was lead to a wonderful talk by Quinton L. Cook, called "Choose Wisely". Bam. Just what the doctor ordered. The biggest principles that stuck out to me were
- Do not embrace excuses
- Without accountability, there is no progress/improvement
- We need to rise above rationalizations
- It's not enough to simply "avoid the bad things" we need to be proactively involved in keeping our covenants
In these last days, Satan is working in so many subtle and seemingly harmless way to take us further from God. So much of the time, it's not even a huge mistake that'll always draw us away- but small consistent decisions that distract us from our divine potential. I can't tell you how much I needed to hear that idea today. It really is in the small daily decisions that we strengthen our bond with God and develop who He wants us to become. I get distracted so so easily, especially with things I feel are urgent at the time, but end up consuming too much of me that I end up neglecting my personal relationship with God. And that always needs to come first, no matter what.
"Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will...for the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves." D&C 58: 27-28
We have the power to choose whatever path we desire. We have the ability to accomplish ANYTHING the Lord asks of us- and He also grants us the power to figure things out on our own. I know that I am far from figuring everything out-but I know God will continue to help me understand what I need to be focusing on both eternally and in the here and now. Christ was able to help everyone he came in contact with because He understood His relationship with His Father. He understood that he needed to live proactively, that Heavenly Father requires willing obedience, and a willing heart. Because of this knowledge AND the willingness to put it into action, Christ completed his mission here on earth. We too can complete our individual missions here in mortality as we remained focused on our savior and our Father in Heaven. I know He is so proud of all you do and I know that He will continue to lead you to where you need to be!
Much love,
Emily
Dearest Emily,
ReplyDeleteThis was a lovely post. Crazy because I was just thinking and praying about balance like 30 minutes ago. I feel like I'm struggling to find it. But like I figured out in my post, it isn't about being perfect, it is about being humble. Only then are we able to receive the direction God is giving us. I think that if we were constantly doing God's will, our lives would be pretty darn balanced. And if we had perfect faith, we would have constant internal peace. Now I know that we can't be perfect. Some times in life are way harder to find balance than others. But God counts all the times that we realize what is off and we work to change it. I don't think He focuses so much on the times that we veer off course, but He does focus on what we do when we get off. A long time ago I realized that balance is the secret to life. But what I didn't realize is that it isn't an end result. It is a constant process of turning back to God once something in life jars us so we get a little off. I am so proud of you!! You teach me so much, and I'm grateful for your friendship. You are such a rock, and I know it is because you are built upon the rock. It is easy to see that in you.