The Lord's Hand in Our Lives

While I was working today I listened to a recent BYU devotional address given by Cecil Samuelson and his wife, Sharon. The address is entitled, "The Lord's Hand in Our Lives." (It can be found here)

President and Sister Samuelson recounted several experiences from their lives that demonstrated to them the Lord's hand in their lives. I enjoyed the entire talk, but one quote in particular really stood out to me. Sister Samuelson said, 

"seeming disappointments and disasters are often the keys that open the doors to greater blessings and opportunities than might have ever been hoped for or even conceived.

For those of you wondering why similar blessings are not now yours, we can only remind you of Jesus’ promises and blessings that will yet be yours but that are not possible without significant trials and disappointments beforehand."

Wow. I just really liked that. It reminded me that I don't see the whole picture. I don't know everything. But, the Lord does. The Lord sees the end from the beginning and I've got to trust Him. 

I must say, I feel I have been blessed to see the Lord's hand in my life several times. I have been blessed to have a testimony that the Lord places me where I need to be when I need to be there. But, there are definitely times when I still doubt and need to be reminded that the Lord is in control. 

This all reminds me of my absolute favorite poem. I first came across it when I was 15 years old. At the time, my family was in the process of moving from California to Utah. I was devastated and didn't understand why we had to move. My Mom gave me a little card with the poem on it. I've loved it ever since. 

My life is but a weaving between my Lord and me;
I cannot choose the colors,
He worketh steadily.
Oft times He weaveth sorrow,
And I, in foolish pride,
Forget He sees the upper,
And I the under side.

Not ’til the loom is silent
and the shuttles cease to fly,
Shall God unroll the canvas
and explain the reason why.

I know this is true. Heavenly Father sees the whole canvas. Hopefully one day we'll be able too too. Until then, we've got to trust Him and appreciate the times when we can see His hand in our lives. 

Remind Me Who I Am

I recently discovered this great song by a Christian artist named Jason Gray. I love it. I don't know about you, but I need to be reminded every day that I am a child of God. This is a rough world we live in. We get messages from everywhere telling us who we should be. I know I can certainly relate to feelings of inadequacy. But we are all beautiful, loved and precious in our Father's sight! 

"Remind Me Who I Am"

When I lose my way,

And I forget my name,

Remind me who I am.

In the mirror all I see,

Is who I don't wanna be,

Remind me who I am.

In the loneliest places,

When I can't remember what grace is.

Tell me once again who I am to You,

Who I am to You.

Tell me lest I forget who I am to You,

That I belong to You.

To You.

When my heart is like a stone,

And I'm running far from home,

Remind me who I am.

When I can't receive Your love,

Afraid I'll never be enough,

Remind me who I am.

If I'm Your beloved,

Can You help me believe it.

Tell me once again who I am to You,

Who I am to You, whoa.

Tell me lest I forget who I am to You.

That I belong to You.

To You.

I'm the one you love,

I'm the one you love,

That will be enough,

I'm the one you love.

Tell me once again who I am to You.

Who I am to You.

Tell me lest I forget who I am to You...

FAITH

Love it. 

I Love Converts!

My friend and I were sitting next to this guy at institute tonight and found out he just got baptized on Saturday! I can't tell you how excited I was (and still am)!

I love converts! I love their faith and hearing their stories. This guy was contacted by missionaries on the street.

There are actually a few converts in our institute class. It makes me really happy. I hope I can bring someone (or many people) into the Church as a member (I had the opportunity to when I was a full-time missionary). I want everyone to know what I know and feel the joy I feel. The Gospel of Jesus Christ blesses lives. It changes lives! It is amazing and I am so blessed and so thankful to have it in my life! 

Hope

I've  been thinking about hope lately and I want to study the topic more. Tonight I read the talk, "The Infinite Power of Hope," by Dieter F. Uchtdorf, October 2008 General Conference.

I love the above quote. That really sums up what hope is. I should read that often. Hope can be a hard thing to have, but can bless our lives so much.

The Lord Will Provide

I was reading in 1 Nephi 17 tonight and came across some cool things. This chapter tells us that Nephi is commanded to build a boat. His brothers complain and don't believe that he can construct a boat. Nephi tries to teach Laman and Lemuel about faith and that the Lord will provide. He uses a couple of examples from the scriptures. One in particular stood out to me. He recounted how Moses smote a rock and water gushed out of it. For some reason, I wasn't familiar with this story. So, I went to the Bible where the story is told. There are a couple accounts of the story. The people of Israel were complaining of thirst and that they didn't have water. So, Moses went to the Lord and asked him what he should do. The Lord took care of it by providing a great miracle.

It's really cool. The takeaway - God will always provide. He loves us and will take care of us. He will open up doors that seem closed and provide a way when it seems there is no way. He is just as much a God of miracles today as he was back then.

I love the following verse from earlier in Chapter 17: "And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness."

"God is in the Midst of her"

1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof...

4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her...

10 Be still and know that I am God....

I came across these passages tonight and absolutely loved them! I was familiar with verse 10, but had not read the other verses in this psalm (Psalms 46). I especially love verse 5. With God, we are strong! He will help is with whatever we are going through. Just thought I'd share.