For those who read my previous post titled, "EFY, Youth Conference, Sunday Schoool, and Christ's atonement" know that I went to EFY this past week. Of course the week was a most beautiful experience. I wrote a total of 33 pages back to back of notes from personal scripture study and classes, so obviously I can't describe everything I learned. And what I do share I'll split up into a few different posts because all the information can be rather overwhelming all at once. So perhaps I'll blog on a weekday this week instead of just Sunday. :)
Probably the area where my testimony grew the most this week was in the power of prayer, and personal revelation we gain from our prayers and feeling the Spirit. Throughout the week I asked myself and my Lord inspired questions about my purpose in life. Although at the time that I prayed about them, I did not yet know those answers would lead to the revelation of what my life purposes truly is. In the end though, everything connected, as everything in the gospel always does.
The first question I asked came to me while I was reading 2 Nephi in the Book of Mormon. 2 Nephi 5:23 says that Nephi and the righteous members of his family "lived after the manner of happiness". The question I had was how do I live after the manner of happiness? I searched through the scriptures listed under "Happiness" in the topical guide and found scripture after scripture that said "Happy is he that..." and "He who does ______, happy is he" etc. I listed some out and wrote the attribute that the scripture described. I soon found a list of Christlike attributes before me. This is when I realized, that true happiness is found through striving to follow Christ. This is something we've always been taught, but I found a strong testimony in discovering this truth myself.
My next question was about me serving others. I wondered if I could be the kind of person who helps others the way people have helped me in my life. I also wondered how I could identify the needs of others so that I could help them. By turning to a random scripture I found Romans 12:1-2 in the Bible. The jist of it is that our bodies are a living sacrafice to serve our fellow men and our God, and that we must not be of the world, we must renew our minds, and "prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Through this scripture I discovered that if my will is aligned with God's will, the Spirit will tell me what the needs of those around me are, so that I may help them, and through this power I can be there for other people as they were there for me. I also discovered that if I "have not faith, hope, and charity, [I] can do nothing." (Doctrine and Covenants 18:19). This told me that to achieve absolutely anything, we don't just need faith and hope, but also charity.
My next question was to wonder what the Lord's will was for me. So I studied that out. I found in Proverbs 12:15 that "he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise". The Spirit testified to me that I should listen carefully to the speakers that particular day at EFY. I also found that "without counsel purposes are disappointed" (Proverbs 15:22). This confirmed to me that in order to get the answer I needed, I must listen to the speakers that day. I then stumbled upon the familiar words found in Matthew 7:7 and 3 Nephi 14:7 that reads "Ask and ye shall recieve, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be given you." I realized this is a covenant. If we ask, seek, and knock, the Lord will deliver because he has promised he will. So I knew I needed to ask seek and knock. I had already done the asking, which is faith and prayer. I was in the middle of seeking which is meditation, obejectives or goals, and studying. But what did it mean to knock? I looked in the footnote and found that knock meant learning. This is when this scripture connected to the ones I read in Proverbs. Knocking was to hearken unto the counsel of my leaders. To knock was to allow the revelation to come. To invite it in my learning, understanding, and applying. I knew that if I followed those steps to revelation, I would recieve my answer about the Lord's will.
And I did. During a leader's devotional he told a story, and from that story inspiration was triggered, I hearkened to the counsel, and I discovered God's will for me.
I realized that all three questions that I asked last week built up to the revelation of what my purpose is in life now, which is the Lord's will for me. It has to do both with living after the manner of happiness and serving my fellow-men. I knew that this purpose I discovered was God's will for me right now. I probably felt the Spirit stronger at that moment of realization than at most other times in my life, and the Spirit testified to me that when I ask, I truly shall recieve.
I testify that these things are true, in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment