Where the Lord Wants Me to Be 1 Corinthians 12

Life can be overwhelming.  A few weeks ago I was feeling that way with my church callings in conjunction with Martin's kidney failure.

I love teaching Gospel Doctrine!  I'm really enjoying being a den leader, especially since it gives me time with my son.  Yet, I have been so often overwhelmed.  Consequently, I feel like my SS lesson preparation has suffered, as has the planning of den meetings.  Is it all too much?

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul likens our bodies to the Church. In verse18, we learn that God has put the body together as he wants it.  In other words, God has put us in our Church service where he wants us.

I must be in the right place, then.

This was confirmed to me a few weeks ago when a sweet member of my Sunday School class listened to the promptings of the spirit.  She mailed me a simple thank you note--she didn't just tell me in Church, but took the time to write, address, stamp, and mail a note--telling me how much she learned from my lessons.  I started to cry.  Maybe, even through all my stress and feelings of a lack of preparation, I'm where the Lord wants me to be.  Maybe he is still using me to build his kingdom.

And through it all, I receive an added gift.  I feel his spirit carrying me through my lesson presentations.  The Lord is making up the difference.  I'm giving him my all, which is less than at other times in my life but still my all, and he's making it grand. The Lord is teaching my lessons. I'm just his instrument.

I still feel overwhelmed.  But it's nice to be reassured that I'm where the Lord wants me.

By the way, here's something fun I learned while studying:

Earlier in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul is likening the positions and assignments of Church members to our bodies.  Before he does that though, he talks about gifts of the spirit.  He says that there are differences of administrations. I love to look at other meanings in Greek for various NT words.  For that reason, I love to read the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible sometimes. I really like the NIV wording for that verse and one one following it, verses 5-6: "there are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of workings [or possibly activities or tasks], but the same God works all of them in all men."

What Price Would You Pay for True Joy?

What is the difference between giving half of one's assets to another 

and giving up every single thing you own and are?

This is the very dilemma faced by the high king of the Lamanites.

When Ammon and King Lamoni were traveling, they came across Lamoni's father, the high king.  He became incensed with Ammon, and the two started to duel.  Ammon gained the upper hand and could have killed the king (see Alma 20).

In that very moment, when his whole life was in jeopardy, the king was only willing to part with half of his kingdom!  (see Alma 22:23).

A few short chapters later, the king is again faced with the same dilemma.  How much do I give up?  This time he was willing to give the entire kingdom along with every single thing he owned.

What happened?  What was the difference?  

Answering these questions is vitally important to our own lives 

and our own happiness!

Aaron taught the high king about the true High King.  He taught the creation, the fall, the atonement--the three pillars of eternity.  He taught the beautiful, eternal plan of redemption.  Upon learning these things, the king asked,  "What shall I do that I may have this eternal life...  that I may be born of God... that I may be filled with joy...? I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy (Alma 20:15). 


What does God want me to do? This has been an important question for me to answer these past few months as we have faced my husband's kidney failure, the sickness that it brings, the waiting and uncertainty of a future transplant, and the upheaval of it all to my family.  Sometimes it seems my burden is too hard, too heavy.

But what am I willing to give up for the joy the high king spoke of?  For the joy that comes from the true High King.  A half a kingdom (or a half a heart) or everything that I am?  God requires my whole heart and in return promises to give me unspeakable joy.

The question remains:  Am I willing to give my whole heart?

Testifying of Christ at All Levels Acts 6-9

A few years ago I heard the  comment "The biggest problem we have in the Church is rapid growth."

Martyrdom of Stephen

As I read Acts 6-9, I found the same type of problems as the Church began to expand outside of Jerusalem. The 12 Apostles chose seven men to help.  Each of these men strengthened the church and spread the Gospel where ever they went.  Their efforts reminded me of D&C 90:11 where the Gospel was preached in the hearers tongue and language.

Language is different than tongue.  It involves all the customs and cultures of the individuals, especially their religious cultures in this context.  As we read these chapters, we see how each taught in both the tongue and language of their hearers. Yet they all had one thing in common:

Each testified of Christ!

* Stephen spoke intelligently to the Sanhedrin about Jewish history.  Even as he died, his testimony was of the Savior (see Acts 7:55-56).

* Philip taught the Ethiopian eunuch about the passages he'd been reading in Isaiah about the Savior (see Acts 8:32-33; Isaiah 53:7-8).

* Paul, after his conversion, taught in the name of Christ (see Acts 9:19-22, 27).

As we fulfill our callings and as the  Church grows, testifying of Christ should be at the forefront -- Whether it is large or small, local or foreign, missionaries and cub scout den leaders we can all testify of Christ!

Matthew 28, Luke 24, John 20 When Have You Experienced Pure Joy?

When have you experienced pure joy?

I asked this questions to my Sunday School class.  One answered that he felt joy when his children and grandchildren hugged him--every time.  Another related watching her grown children and grandchildren interact with each.  Yet another shared the time when she was sealed to her parents.  Every answer dealt with love and family.

Among the most sacred, joyful experiences of my life were the occasions I gave birth.  The veil was thin as the magnificent spirits left the arms of our Heavenly Father and came to mine.  Our Father's love accompanied those precious souls many days afterwards.

Birth is so sacred and full of joy that the Savior himself likened it to his impending atonement, death, and resurrection, John 16:19-22.  After the pain and the travail, joy comes.  And when the Savior was resurrected, he brought joy that can never be taken away.  We can only give it away if we choose.

The resurrection is the culmination of the glorious plan of salvation.  It is the joy that comes after the suffering.  "Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen (Luke 24:5-6).  As Howard W. Hunter stated, "These words contain all the hope, assurance, and belief necessary to sustain us in our challenging and sometimes grief filled lives" (Ensign, May 1986, 15-16).

Oh how great the goodness of God.  How beautiful the joy of the resurrection!

Christ brings "joy that no man taketh from you."

Mark 4 Faith Future, Solutions

Sea of Galilee

Jesus was asleep in the boat during a violent storm.  Frightened, the disciples awoke him and asked if he even cared that they were about to perish.  With majesty, might, and priesthood power, Jesus calmed the tempest. Then he asked, "Why are ye so fearful?" (Mark 4: 36-40).

Suddenly the story faded and it was as if the Savior were standing before me asking the same question.

"Why are ye so fearful?"

Yes, why?  Why?

I'm trying to so hard to exercise faith.  I pray sincerely.  I read my scriptures.  I sing hymns when I'm discouraged.  I identify specific blessings I have.  Why?

As I grapled with the question, the Holy Ghost brought to my mind something I had learned in an institute class about three years ago.  Brother Lee Donaldson showed us the following grid.  The outside of the grid is where our focus and attention are.  The inside of the grid is the result.

The light of inspiration filled my soul.  I have been focusing way to much on the future and the problems.  Not future and solution.

So how do we focus on solutions that yield faith.  Three simple steps:

1.  Learn of Christ.  The more we know his character, the more confidence we put in him (see Bible Dictionary: Faith).

2.  Pray for specific help with problems.  It doesn't matter whether the problems are how to pay hospital bills; the best way to discipline children; or what job to take.  The Lord knows everything and will help us know what to do (see 2 Nephi 9:20).

3.  Get up and act upon our promptings.  Take the first step and be confident that the Lord will magnify our abilities and show us the way.

John 6 The Expanding Power of God

Several years ago I enrolled in college algebra--only because it was required for my degree.  This was a brave, or insane, thing to do since I had not taken a math class for more than seven years.  Moreover, math was not my best subject in high school!  To make matters worse, I took the 5 credit class on Saturday morning from 8:00 AM to Noon.  Because the class was taught only once a week, by the end of the class period, the instructor was lecturing on course material four lessons ahead of where we started at the beginning of the class.  He assigned homework, but only for our benefit, as it didn't count on our grades.  Just the tests counted.

Feeling rather overwhelmed, I approached my father for a priesthood blessing.  I was blessed that the Spirit of the Lord would help me with my math, and that I would perform above my natural ability.

As I worked hard that quarter, I could literally feel the fulfillment of that promise.  I gave my small offering, and the Lord expanded my abilities.  Not only did I get an A in the class, but I scored 100 percent on some of the tests, including the final.

I hadn't thought about that faith promoting experience for a long time.  Last Sunday, it surfaced unexpectedly as I was teaching Sunday School. We were talking about the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 and the small offering of faith made by a lad.  I shared my experience with the class but continued to ponder on why I suddenly thought about it.

Although the story was faith promoting for others, I believe the main message was intended for me, right now.  Whether it's five loaves of bread and two fish or diligent study for a math class, the Lord expands our ability beyond our natural capacity.  It really is simple.  I just need to turn to the Lord with my offering, with all I have, and he will take care of the rest!  With that in mind, I must get to work and go make my small offering today.

Jacob 5 Pruning and Digging Hurt

Tears were close as I sat in a hospital waiting room for the 2nd time this week, waiting.  Waiting for another loved one to come out of surgery.  Fears and worries assailed me: the health of the person, the staggering hospital bill just for outpatient surgery, the pain of recovery, the effectiveness of the surgery, the steps to take afterwards.

Olive Trees at Garden of Gethsemane, Michelle; 1992

While waiting I opened my Book of Mormon and started reading where I had left off.  I read Jacob 3 and Jacob 4 and was only starting to find peace.  Unexpectedly, it was Jacob 5, the very long allegory of the olive tree, that calmed my troubled heart.

I personalized Jacob 5 and visualized the olive tree representing me individually rather than the whole house of Israel throughout all time.

I was being pruned and nurtured, even as I sat in the hospital.  The untamed fruit in my life was being cut out and burned through the trials of life right now.  The wholesome good fruit was being developed.  The gardener was neither leaving me nor giving up on me.  Rather, the gardener loves me and wants all my fruit to be good.

The pruning, digging, and nourishing were done with purpose in Jacob 5.  They were not random acts.  Likewise, the pruning and digging in my life is done with purpose.  They are not capricious, arbitrary acts of a vengeful God.  He knows what kind of fruit he wants me to bear.  He knows what needs pruned to bring about that fruit.  Some of the pruning I bring on myself through wrong choices.  Some of the pruning God does because in the end knows what he wants me to be.

Therefore, with diligence and patience and trust in the gardener, "by and by [I] shall pluck the fruit, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet" (Alma 5:42) and I "shall have eternal life, which is the greatest of all the gifts of God" (D&C 14:7).