For a Little Season: Moving Forward with Life When Life Doesnt Seem to Move Forward

1
For a Little Season Moving Forward with Life
When Life Doesnt Seem to Move Forward

• Scott C. Esplin
• Church History and Doctrine
• Brigham Young University
• 2009 OPAC Conference

2
Misunderstandings in Scripture

• Think of prominent misunderstandings or
  misinterpretations in scripture, times when the
  person or people misunderstood the Lords will
  for them.

What patterns or lessons do you see?
3
Doing Right at the Right Time

• In all the important decisions in our
  lives, what is most important is to do the
  right thing. Second, and only slightly behind
  the first, is to do the right thing at the
  right time. People who do the right thing
  at the wrong time can be frustrated and
  ineffective. They can even be confused about
  whether they made the right choice when what was
  wrong was not their choice but their timing. . .
  . Faith means trusttrust in Gods will, trust
  in His way of doing things, and trust in His
  timetable. We should not try to impose our
  timetable on His.
• Dallin H. Oaks, Ensign, Oct. 2003, p. 10

4
The Whys of Life

• When you face adversity, you can be led
  to ask many questions. Some serve a useful
  purpose others do not. To ask, Why does
  this have to happen to me? Why do I have to
  suffer this, now? What have I done to cause
  this? will lead you into blind alleys. It
  really does no good to ask questions that
  reflect opposition to the will of God. Rather
  ask, What am I to do? What am I to learn from
  this experience? What am I to change? Whom am I
  to help? How can I remember my many blessings in
  times of trial? Willing sacrifice of deeply held
  personal desires in favor of the will of God is
  very hard to do. Yet, when you pray with real
  conviction, Please let me know Thy will and
  May Thy will be done, you are in the strongest
  position to receive the maximum help from your
  loving Father.
• Richard G. Scott, Conf. Report, Oct. 1995, p. 18

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What Am I to Change?

• Facing Fear with Faith
• DC 9
• DC 67
• Moving Forward Without an Answer
• DC 5826-27
• DC 605 6122 625, 7
• How to Act For the Present Time
• DC 483-6 5116-17

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Facing Fear with Faith

• I would like to have a dollar for every
  person in a courtship who knew he or she
  had felt the guidance of the Lord in that
  relationship, had prayed about the experience
  enough to know it was the will of the Lord,
  knew they loved each other and enjoyed each
  other's company, and saw a lifetime of wonderful
  compatibility ahead--only to panic, to get a
  brain cramp, to have total catatonic fear sweep
  over them. They "draw back," as Paul said, if not
  into perdition at least into marital paralysis.
  (cont.)

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Facing Fear with Faith

• I am not saying you shouldn't be very careful
  about something as significant and serious as
  marriage. And I certainly am not saying that a
  young man can get a revelation that he is to
  marry a certain person without that young woman
  getting the same confirmation. I have seen a lot
  of those one-way revelations in young people's
  lives. Yes, there are cautions and considerations
  to make, but once there has been genuine
  illumination, beware the temptation to retreat
  from a good thing. If it was right when you
  prayed about it and trusted it and lived for it,
  it is right now. Don't give up when the pressure
  mounts. You can find an apartment. You can win
  over your mother-in-law. You can sell your
  harmonica and therein fund one more meal. It's
  been done before. Don't give in. Certainly don't
  give in to that being who is bent on the
  destruction of your happiness. He wants everyone
  to be miserable like unto himself. Face your
  doubts. Master your fears. "Cast not away
  therefore your confidence." Stay the course and
  see the beauty of life unfold for you.
• Jeffrey R. Holland, BYU Speeches, March 2, 1999

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What Am I to Change?

• Facing Fear with Faith
• DC 9
• DC 67
• Moving Forward Without an Answer
• DC 5826-27
• DC 605 6122 625, 7
• How to Act For the Present Time
• DC 483-6 5116-17

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Moving Forward Without an Answer

• Usually the Lord gives us the overall
  objectives to be accomplished and some guidelines
  to follow, but he expects us to work out most of
  the details and methods. The methods and
  procedures are usually developed through study
  and prayer and by living so that we can obtain
  and follow the promptings of the Spirit. Less
  spiritually advanced people, such as those in the
  days of Moses, had to be commanded in many
  things. Today those spiritually alert look at the
  objectives, check the guidelines laid down by the
  Lord and his prophets, and then prayerfully act
  -- without having to be commanded in all
  things. This attitude prepares men for godhood.
  . . . (cont.)

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Moving Forward Without an Answer

• Sometimes the Lord hopefully waits on his
  children to act on their own, and when they
  do not, they lose the greater prize, and
  the Lord will either drop the entire matter
  and let them suffer the consequences or else
  he will have to spell it out in greater
  detail. Usually, I fear, the more he has to spell
  it out, the smaller is our reward.
• Ezra Taft Benson, C.R., April 1965, p. 121-122

11
Moving Forward Without an Answer

• What do you do when you have prepared
  carefully, have prayed fervently, waited a
  reasonable time for a response, and still do
  not feel an answer? You may want to express
  thanks when that occurs, for it is an evidence
  of His trust. When you are living worthily and
  your choice is consistent with the Saviors
  teachings and you need to act, proceed with
  trust. As you are sensitive to the promptings of
  the Spirit, one of two things will certainly
  occur at the appropriate time either the stupor
  of thought will come, indicating an improper
  choice, or the peace or the burning in the bosom
  will be felt, confirming that your choice was
  correct. When you are living righteously and are
  acting with trust, God will not let you proceed
  too far without a warning impression if you have
  made the wrong decision Richard
  G. Scott, Ensign, May 2007, p. 10

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What Am I to Change?

• Facing Fear with Faith
• DC 9
• DC 67
• Moving Forward Without an Answer
• DC 5826-27
• DC 605 6122 625, 7
• How to Act For the Present Time
• DC 483-6 5116-17

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Making the Most of Now

• This is our one and only chance at mortal
  lifehere and now. The longer we live, the
  greater is our realization that it is brief.
  Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I
  believe that among the greatest lessons we
  are to learn in this short sojourn upon the
  earth are lessons that help us distinguish
  between what is important and what is not. I
  plead with you not to let those most important
  things pass you by as you plan for that illusive
  and nonexistent future when you will have time to
  do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in
  the journeynow. (cont.)

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Making the Most of Now

• I am what my wife, Frances, calls a
  show-a-holic. I thoroughly enjoy many
  musicals, and one of my favorites was written
  by the American composer Meredith Willson and
  is entitled The Music Man. Professor
  Harold Hill, one of the principal characters
  in the show, voices a caution that I share with
  you. Says he, You pile up enough tomorrows, and
  youll find youve collected a lot of empty
  yesterdays.
• Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, November 2008, 84

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What to Do in the Meantime?

• The timing of marriage is perhaps the
  best example of an extremely important event
  in our lives that is almost impossible to
  plan. Like other important mortal events
  that depend on the agency of others or the
  will and timing of the Lord, marriage cannot be
  anticipated or planned with certainty. We can and
  should work for and pray for our righteous
  desires, but despite this, many will remain
  single well beyond their desired time for
  marriage. (cont.)

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What to Do in the Meantime?

• So what should be done in the meantime?
  Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ prepares us
  for whatever life brings. This kind of faith
  prepares us to deal with lifes
  opportunities to take advantage of those that
  are received and to persist through the
  disappointments of those that are lost.
  In the exercise of that faith, we should commit
  ourselves to the priorities and standards we will
  follow on matters we do not control and persist
  faithfully in those commitments, whatever happens
  to us because of the agency of others or the
  timing of the Lord. When we do this, we will have
  a constancy in our lives that will give us
  direction and peace.
• Dalliin H. Oaks, Ensign, Oct. 2003, p. 10

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Putting the Lord First

• Whatever the circumstances beyond our
  control, our commitments and standards can
  be constant. . . . Wise are those who
  make this commitment I will put the Lord
  first in my life, and I will keep His
  commandments. The performance of that
  commitment is within everyones control. We can
  fulfill that commitment without regard to what
  others decide to do, and that commitment will
  anchor us no matter what timing the Lord directs
  for the most important events in our lives. . . .
  (cont.)

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Putting the Lord First

• If we have faith in God and if we are
  committed to the fundamentals of keeping His
  commandments and putting Him first in
  our lives, we do not need to plan every
  single eventeven every important eventand
  we should not feel rejected or depressed if some
  thingseven some very important thingsdo not
  happen at the time we had planned or hoped or
  prayed.
• Dallin H. Oaks, Ensign, Oct. 2003, p. 10

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What Am I to Learn?

• Trust in Gods Timing
• DC 3524-25
• DC 8868
• DC 6431-32
• Ecclesiastes 31-8
• The Process of Time
• Moses 721
• Destination vs. Process
• Take the Long View

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An Experience of Profound Trust

• This life is an experience in profound
  trusttrust in Jesus Christ, trust in His
  teachings, trust in our capacity as led by
  the Holy Spirit to obey those teachings for
  happiness now and for a purposeful, supremely
  happy eternal existence. To trust means to
  obey willingly without knowing the end from
  the beginning. . . . To exercise faith is to
  trust that the Lord knows what He is doing with
  you and that He can accomplish it for your
  eternal good even though you cannot understand
  how He can possibly do it. We are like infants in
  our understanding of eternal matters and their
  impact on us here in mortality. Yet at times we
  act as if we knew it all.
• Richard G. Scott, Ensign, Nov. 1995, p. 16

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Eternal Growth and Happiness

• If all matters were immediately resolved
  at your first petition, you could not grow.
  Your Father in Heaven and His Beloved Son love
  you perfectly. They would not require you
  to experience a moment more of difficulty than is
  absolutely needed for your personal benefit or
  for that of those you love.
• Richard G. Scott, Ensign, Nov. 1995, p. 16

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Trusting Gods Timing and Plan

• The issue for us is trusting God enough to
  trust also His timing. If we can truly believe
  He has our welfare at heart, may we not let His
  plans unfold as He thinks best?
• Neal A. Maxwell, Even as I Am, p. 93
• I assure you, my brothers and sisters, that
  our Heavenly Father is aware of us,
  individually and collectively. He understands
  the spiritual, physical, and emotional
  difficulties we face in the world today. In
  fact, they are all apart of his plan for our
  eternal growth and development.
• M. Russell Ballard, Ensign, Nov. 1992, p. 31

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What Am I to Learn?

• Trust in Gods Timing
• DC 3524-25
• DC 8868
• DC 6431-32
• Ecclesiastes 31-8
• The Process of Time
• Moses 721
• Destination vs. Process
• Take the Long View

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Zion In Process of Time

• This promised Zion always seems to be a
  little beyond our reach. We need to
  understand that as much virtue can be
  gained in progressing toward Zion as in
  dwelling there. It is a process as well as a
  destination. . . . Many are perfected upon the
  road to Zion who will never see the city in
  mortality.
• Robert D. Hales, Ensign, May 1986, p. 28

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What Am I to Learn?

• Trust in Gods Timing
• DC 3524-25
• DC 8868
• DC 6431-32
• Ecclesiastes 31-8
• The Process of Time
• Moses 721
• Destination vs. Process
• Take the Long View

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Taking the Long View

• Do not rely on planning every event of
  your lifeeven every important event. Stand
  ready to accept the Lord's planning and
  the agency of others in matters that
  inevitably affect you. Plan, of course, but
  fix your planning on personal commitments
  that will carry you through no matter what
  happens. Anchor your life to eternal principles,
  and act upon those principles whatever the
  circumstances and whatever the actions of others.
  Then you can await the Lord's timing and be sure
  of the outcome in eternity. (cont.)

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Taking the Long View

• The most important principle of timing
  is to take the long view. Mortality is just a
  small slice of eternity, but how we conduct
  ourselves herewhat we become by our
  actions and desires, confirmed by our
  covenants and the ordinances administered to
  us by proper authoritywill shape our destiny for
  all eternity. As the prophet Amulek taught, "This
  life is the time for men to prepare to meet God"
  (Alma 3432). That reality should help us take
  the long viewthe timing of eternity. (cont.)

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Taking the Long View

• As President Charles W. Penrose
  declared at a general conference
  memorializing the death of President
  Joseph F. Smith
• Why waste your time, your talents,
  your means, your influence in following
  something that will perish and pass away,
  when you could devote yourselves to a thing
  that will stand forever? For this Church and
  kingdom, to which you belong, will abide and
  continue in time, in eternity, while endless ages
  roll along, and you with it will become mightier
  and more powerful while the things of this world
  will pass away and perish, and will not abide in
  nor after the resurrection, saith the Lord our
  God. CR, June 1919, 37
• Dallin H. Oaks, Timing, BYU Speeches, Jan 29,
  2002

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The Whys of Life

• I have come to understand how useless it
  is to dwell on the whys, what ifs, and if
  onlys for which there likely will be given no
  answers in mortality. To receive the Lords
  comfort, we must exercise faith. The
  questions Why me? Why our family? Why now? are
  usually unanswerable questions. These
  questions detract from our spirituality and can
  destroy our faith. We need to spend our time and
  energy building our faith by turning to the Lord
  and asking for strength to overcome the pains and
  trials of this world and to endure to the end for
  greater understanding.
• Robert D. Hales, Ensign, Nov. 1998, p .14

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The Closing and Opening of Doors

• Our Father in Heaven has invited you to
  express your needs, hopes, and desires unto
  Him. That should not be done in a spirit of
  negotiation, but rather as a willingness to
  obey His will no matter what direction that
  takes. His invitation, Ask, and ye shall
  receive (3 Ne. 2729) does not assure that you
  will get what you want. It does guarantee that,
  if worthy, you will get what you need, as judged
  by a Father that loves you perfectly, who wants
  your eternal happiness even more than do you.
  (cont.)

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The Closing and Opening of Doors

• I testify that when the Lord closes one
  important door in your life, He shows His
  continuing love and compassion by opening many
  other compensating doors through your exercise
  of faith. He will place in your path packets
  of spiritual sunlight to brighten your way.
  They often come after the trial has been
  the greatest, as evidence of the compassion and
  love of an all-knowing Father. They point the way
  to greater happiness, more understanding, and
  strengthen your determination to accept and be
  obedient to His will.
• Richard G. Scott, Ensign, Nov. 1995, p. 16

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The Promise of Good Things to ComeElder
Jeffrey R. Holland General Conference, October
1999