PRESSURES OF THE FUTURE

How can you calm my nerves about the pressure of the future?

            The future is daunting and tends to initiate doubts, fears and insecurities in us.  I personally have been struggling with this topic.  I am graduating in August and have been burdened with the unknown trajectory of my future.  The way in which I have dealt with my nerves in regards to the pressure of my future is by trusting in God’s specified plan for me, praying to understand the direction I should go to follow His plan and taking action within my own life to reach my goals.

            

 God has an individualized plan for every single one of his children.  As long as we keep the covenants that we made with our Heavenly Father he will always uphold his end of the promise.  As conveyed in D&C 42:48-52, those that have faith in their Heavenly Father will have the power to see, hear, leap and bear their personal infirmities.  We must have faith in our future that God will watch out for us and that he has a designed plan for us.  Maintain a perspective a hope in your future.    

           

 While God has a plan for us, it is also our job to find out the steps in our plan.  Prayer is the best way to find out if we are following in accordance with the plan that Heavenly Father has constructed for us.  As D&C 42:61 says, “If thou shalt ask, thou shalt receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things—that which bringeth joy, that which bringeth life eternal.”  If we ask for revelation, knowledge or to know of the mysteries of life God will answer our prayers.  We have direct access to someone that has an omniscient perspective on life. 

           

 Lastly, it is important that we do not wait around for our future to come to us.  We must be actively working and trying to create a future that is in accordance with God’s plan for us and in accordance with our goals.  As discussed in D&C 42:42, we are commanded not to be idle because those that are idle are not blessed.  We must not remain idle in life because idleness does not produce results.  The best way to stay confident in your future is to be engaged in making your future better.   Overall, the best way to stay positive about the pressures of your future are having faith in God’s plan for you, seeking direction to follow His plan and being productive in making your future happen. 

  

What can you do to stay faithful during times of trial?

Life is hard and full of ups and downs in life that we must must overcome.  I have been thinking about this topic a lot lately, what can you do to stay faithful during times of trial?

 We can remain faithful during our trials by maintaining an eternal perspective and by placing our trust in God.  We are here on earth to have experiences that will help us become more like our Father in Heaven and teach us to righteously exercise our free agency.  In order to progress to reach our full potential we have to be tested.  All of us must go through trials in order to become like God.  This is one principle that has helped me get through trials. 

 When you keep an eternal perspective through your hardships it helps you understand the reasoning behind the trial and provides motivation to endure the struggle.  As it states in D&C 18:22, “And as many as repent and are baptized in my name, which is Jesus Christ, and endure to the end, the same shall be saved. “  It is comforting to know that if we endure our trials then we will be saved in the last days.  The eternal perspective not only helps us get through our immediate trials but also offers us hope for the future.  Along with these, an eternal perspective also allows you to see the blessings that resulted from the trial you experienced. 

            

 While God does allow trials to happen, he never leaves us to struggle through them alone.  As it states in D&C 24:8, “Be patient in afflictions, for thou shalt have many; but endure them, for, lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days.”  God will always be there to support us through our difficulties in life.   

When you are losing faith during your trials, pray to your Father in Heaven and ask for his strength to help you through it.  God will always answer our prayers.  He has the power to guide us through our hardships, to lift us out of our trials, and ultimately deliver us from the powers of Satan (D&C 24:1).  Trust in the Lord because he knows your eternal potential and what you are capable of.  Overall, trials are a major part of life that we must all experience.  We can remain faithful through our trials by always focusing on the eternal perspective and relying on our Heavenly Father.  

 

"The Giver" - Lois Lowry

One of my favorite books of all time is a children’s novel entitled, “The Giver” by Lois Lowry.

 The first time I read this book was in fifth grade and I remember loving it even though I did not fully understand the underlying meaning.  At age 9, I just enjoyed the storyline.  Since then I have read the book at least 5 times since and every time I learn something new or have a different perspective on the book.  I love the concept that the book addresses about how controlling should society be?  In the book, the government controls everything and the community members are mindless followers.  They have no free agency and cannot even see color or feel pain.  Everyone is guaranteed safety and the necessities but in consequence no one truly understands life.  Since they have never felt utter sadness they have never felt true happiness because they have nothing to compare it to.  “The Giver” helped me understand the LDS gospel principle of opposition in all things as well as free agency.  After I read this book, I was so grateful for all the experiences good and bad that I had gone through.  Overall, this book is an amazing representation of the importance of free agency in religion, society and life. 

Conference Weekend

Conference was amazing this last weekend.  One of my favorite talks was by Elder L. Whitney Clayton entitled, "Marriage: Watch and Learn."  He discussed the importance of marriage in our lives and it is our choice to have a happy or distressed marriage.  Elder Clayton also gave the members of the church guidelines about how to attain an eternal marriage.  If you missed this talk in the Sunday morning session look it up on lds.org.  It is worth listening to!  One of my favorite quotes from this L. Whitney Clayton was:

“Marriage is a gift from God to us, the quality of our marriages is a gift from us to Him!”

What a powerful quote.  The quality of our marriage is our personalized gift to God.  God has done so much for each of us.  Everything we have is because of our loving Heavenly Father.  It is our responsibility to create a marriage that He would be proud of.