Some Thoughts on Faith

I had some cool inspiration while studying for my religion class today, I thought I'd share it =).

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Faith is the principle of action in all intelligent beings. If you did not believe the light would turn on when you flipped the switch, you wouldn't flip the switch. Why? Because you didn't think it would do any good! The same is true with spiritual things. If you do not believe that praying is a way to communicate with God, or that it will make any difference - why bother praying? If you do believe that it will make a difference, however, of course you're going to pray. The same is true with any other spiritual principle. By this, you may gauge your level of faith in certain areas. Do you pray daily? If you do, it's because you believe it will make a difference in your life. Do you study the scriptures daily? If you do, you must believe that they are really worth reading. Do you attend church? If so, it must be because you believe that it will strengthen you spiritually, or that perhaps you will be able to strengthen someone else, or that blessings will come by being obedient to the Lord's commandments.

What, then, if you don't do these things? Perhaps this is a sign that your faith is weak. This is no reason to despair, however. It is merely a way to identify what you must do to increase your faith.

Alma taught that if you will "experiment upon [the word]", exercising only "a particle of faith", that your faith will begin to grow:

"But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words." (Alma 32:27)

This process is compared to planting a seed - a small and simple act, which may result in the growth of a strong and mighty tree.

If you find that your spiritual habits are lacking, plant a seed. Give it some water and sunshine, and a little time to begin to grow. The "evidence of things unseen" lies within that little seed. As you nurture it and it begins to grow, that evidence becomes visible - it is no longer unseen, but it is a sure thing.

"And now, behold, is your knowledge perfect? Yea, your knowledge is perfect in that thing, and your faith is dormant; and this because you know, for ye know that the word hath swelled your souls, and ye also know that it hath sprouted up, that your understanding doth begin to be enlightened, and your mind doth begin to expand." (Alma 32:34)

The Time Is At Hand

Recently, I've had a sense of urgency about preparing myself for... something. Something bad. World War III. A Chinese invasion of the US. The Zombie Apocalypse. I don’t know what, but I feel like something bad is about to happen. Call me crazy, but I have discovered that some close friends of mine are having these same feelings of urgency, the need to prepare for the worst.

Church leaders have warned us for decades, telling us to prepare food and water storage in case of an emergency, and with more and more natural disasters occurring and with the current political state of our nation, I believe the counsel is even more important than ever.

God recently blessed me with a good paying job, and I've been using my income to purchase supplies – first aid supplies, emergency food and water rations, survival tools and even a couple firearms.

While discussing the need to be prepared with a friend, she asked me if I could give her a good list of supplies she should have for a 24 or 72 hour kit – aka, "Bug Out Bag," or BOB. Originally, I wanted to put a huge list of supplies on my blog to share with her and others, but after weeks of working on it I feel it didn't fit in very well here. Click here to read the article on my new blog.

Happy New Year!

Angels Watch Over Us

I am a firm believer that God watches over us and sends His angels to protect us in times of need.

Last night was one of those times.

Yesterday we had our first big snowfall of the year. I was on my way out of town after the roads had been cleared and I thought it was safe to travel. I was very careful, driving well under the speed limit, not concerned about how long it took me to reach my destination as long as I arrived safely. As I drove along, I noticed that my car was riding a little rough. A flat tire, perhaps? No, it's not a flat tire... Perhaps it's just the snow and ice on the road. I convinced myself that my car was fine, and continued on.

I began to sing a children's hymn I had learned at church as a child many years ago. I felt a sense of peace and calm as I sang. It helped to ease my nerves as I drove along the icy roads. As I was about to finish the final verse, my car began to rotate. "Well that's odd," I thought to myself. I was on a straight road, traveling in a straight line. I nudged the wheel to correct my course. The car responded by rotating even farther in the other direction. Again, I tried to correct my course, but I quickly lost control of the vehicle, and I began to slide off the road - directly towards a house that was only a few feet from the road.

I began to pray aloud. "Heavenly Father, please help me, help me, help me, HELP ME!" I braced myself for impact, not knowing when - or if - I would wake up, as my car smashed into a pile of bricks stacked next to the house. CRASH!

I opened my eyes. I was alive. I was awake. Even more amazing, I was completely unharmed. I shut off the engine, grabbed my phone and got out of my car - which had stopped just two feet away from the house. I called my parents right away, to let them know where I was and what happened. I then called highway patrol, who sent out an officer to get my information and help me get a tow back home.

As I stood there and waited, I thought about what just happened. My knee jerk reaction was, "What the heck? Why did this happen? I was singing hymns and praying as my car slid off the road! Why didn't He help me??" This train of thought quickly derailed, however, as I realized just how much He really had intervened. Those bricks acted as a cushion. They slowed me down more gently than a wall would have. Had those bricks not been there - or had I missed them - I would have likely slid through the wall of the house, causing major damage to not only my car but someone else's property - damage that I would not have been able to pay for. Had I hit the house I would have also likely suffered severe bodily damage. Not only were the bricks there to catch the front end of my car, but some small trees stopped the rear end of my car from swinging into the wall of the house. "Thank you, Heavenly Father, thank you," I prayed.

How blessed I was! This was not a coincidence. I am certain that angels were there, guiding my car to safety.

Sometimes, the thought crosses my mind: "Why couldn't I have slid to a stop on the road? Did I really have to hit a pile of bricks?" I am quickly reminded, however, how fortunate and blessed I really was. It could have been much, much worse.

After the tow truck pulled my car out of the ditch, we were able to assess the damage a bit better. The front bumper was hanging by a thread and a headlight was dragging on the ground, the hood was scratched and dented in front, but that was it. How blessed I am. Everything else appears to be intact. No leaking fluids, no deployed airbag, no broken windows.

I am so full of gratitude toward my Father in Heaven for keeping me safe that night. I was blessed in so many ways. Not only was damage to my car minimal, but I avoided colliding with the house, which means they didn't even need to file an accident report, which would have resulted in increased insurance premiums and a bad mark on my driving record.

What did I learn from this experience?

1. Listen to mother! She told me it was too dangerous, but I went anyway. (My sweet mother didn't even say "I told you so!" She was just happy that I was ok.)
2. God really does love me, and He watches over me constantly.
3. God does not prevent every bad thing from happening, but when bad things do happen, He is still there to guard us and strengthen us during our trials.

Could He have prevented me from sliding off the road? Absolutely. Why didn't He? I suppose there was something I needed to learn from this experience, or perhaps this minor misfortune protected me from something far worse down the road. "What if trials of this life are [His] mercies in disguise?" ~ Blessings by Laura Story

God is omniscient; I will trust in his wisdom and understanding.

At Your Feet

While writing my last post, I was listening to Casting Crowns to drown out the background noise and hopefully provide a source of inspiration... It worked!

One thing I have recently learned is the importance of truly giving your life to God - fully trusting in him and submitting your will to His. This is also something that I have a very hard time with - especially when it comes to relationships. If I love someone - I don't want that to change! I want to be with them, to love them, to give myself to them... and there's nothing worse than being told that a wonderful relationship needs to end - especially when you have no idea why.

The song that struck me is At Your Feet by Casting Crowns. I was typing away, when I heard these lines:

"Here at Your feet I lay my future down
All of my dreams I give to You now
And I find peace, I find peace"

I stopped typing, and just listened. Can I do that? Can I really do that? Can I lay my future down at the feet of the Lord? Can I surrender all my hopes and my dreams? And even if I do - will I really find peace?

I know that this is what I need to do... But why is it so hard? Unfortunately, there's no happy ending to this story yet.

One thing I have learned though from past experience is that, in His own time, God almost always reveals the reasons for everything he asks us to do, and it all becomes crystal clear.

I hope and pray that I will find the strength I need to fully give myself to God, trusting in His infinite wisdom.

The Commandments of God Must Be Fulfilled

"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..." ~1 Nephi 17:3

Wow. I'm sure I've never read that verse before.

I've been going through a lot of trials in my life... a precious relationship has come to an end, the war against my inner demons has raged on, and I have not been sure I could make it. I've turned to the Lord and to the scriptures for a source of strength, and this verse was exactly what I needed. The promise here is so simple... If we keep the commandments of God, he will strengthen us and provide a way for us to do what he has asked us to do.

Now, I'm not a wicked evil person, and I haven't committed murder or some other terrible sin, but there's far too much that I have not been doing. In church, we're taught simple things, such as: Pray every day, study scriptures daily, take care of your body by eating right and having a good sleep schedule, etc. etc. Now, I'm a fairly healthy eater, but that's about the only thing in that list I do well. The days I do pray and study the scriptures, there is a very noticeable difference - I feel so much stronger, like I really could do anything.

This week, and for the rest of my life, I am going to make an extra effort to do even the small things. I know that as I do, I will be blessed with the grace of God and be able to do that which I cannot do by my own strength.

Seek Ye the Kingdom of God

A few months ago, God blessed me with a (much needed) high paying job. It's a temporary position, however, and the fact that I will soon be laid off has been looming over my head ever since only a month after I got the job. I've been job hunting like crazy; I'm sure I've applied for a few dozen jobs by now. I've been so consumed with looking for a job that I've let it get in the way of other important aspects of my life, such as time for scripture study and personal prayer.

Today, almost randomly, the words of the Savior came to mind: "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God".

"Huh," I thought. "I haven't really been doing that, have I?"

This passage from the book of Jacob in the Book of Mormon states it plainly:

"But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God.

"And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them..."
~ Jacob 2:18-19


Similar counsel is also given to us in the book of Matthew:

"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

"Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

"Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

"And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

"And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

"Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

"Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

"(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."
~ Matthew 6:25-33 (emphasis added)


I've decided that rather than spending every spare minute checking online job postings, I'm going to spend that time seeking after the Kingdom of God - pondering the words of the Savior and studying the words of His holy prophets.

I know that as I strive to be more obedient to God's commandments, He will watch over me and take care of me, leading me by the hand every step of the way.

The Worth of Souls is Great

For a period of time, I truly believed that my value as a person was merely the sum of my actions - good or bad. I believed that the more I sinned, the more worthless I became. The more I did good, the more worth I gained.

I have since realized, however, that this way of thinking is flawed. Every individual has infinite worth. Why? There are a few reasons.

Firstly, we are all literal spirit children of our Heavenly Father. The Great Creator is our father. This alone gives us infinite worth - we are His children, His precious jewels. He created us. We are His divine creations. He loves us.

Secondly, every individual has infinite potential. We have the ability to do so much good in the world. The only thing holding us back is ourselves. Fear is a paper wall. Take a step into the darkness, trusting in the Lord to light the way. Unlock your infinite potential, and show the world what you can accomplish with God by your side every step of the way.

"Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God." ~ Doctrine and Covenants 18:10