How Not to Drown

This is an entry from my journal from a few years ago:

This is probably going to be one of my thoughts where you think – “Sarah, you think way too much!”

Nevertheless, here I go again!

I went swimming yesterday, and those of you who know me well, know that the water and I are not the best of friends. People keep telling me that you can’t drown if you relax, as you will just bob to the top. As yet, that theory remains unproven and is just a ‘nice story’ as far as I am concerned. However, last night I did make some headway and was a lot more relaxed, and did notice that the more I let the water carry me, the easier it was, and a lot more enjoyable (I’m even considering not doing my usual deathbed repentance before stepping into the pool next week:).

Well, as I was a kicking and a splashing this familiar scripture kept coming into my mind:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
(Matthew 11:28 - 30)

Just as I had to trust the water to carry my heavy body, so must we trust the Lord with our heavy burdens. He is eager to take them from us, and as we let go of our fears and worries He will carry us, life will be easier and more enjoyable also. I really have a firm testimony of this, and no matter how unnerving it can feel to let everything go to the Lord there is no feeling, or freedom, like it. I know He will never fail us, He is the Living Water who keeps us safe.

I hope you have a really great day!

Where Obedience Springs From

"Obedience springs not from weakness, but from spiritual strength and from a reservoir of affirmative experience, which helps us to trust God for that which we do not yet know."

—Neal A. Maxwell, Wherefore, Ye Must Press Forward

The Brightness of Hope

“Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men”. (2 Nephi 31:20).

Neal A. Maxwell:
“Daily hope is vital, since the "Winter Quarters" of our lives are not immediately adjacent to our promised land... Those with true hope often see their personal circumstances shaken, like kaleidoscopes, again and again. Yet with the "eye of faith," they still see divine pattern and purpose.”
(Ensign, Nov. 1994)

I hope that we will daily confirm our hope, as “hope deferred maketh the heart sick”. (Proverbs 13:12), and that we will expect the best, prepare for the worst and live each day with hope.

Spiritual Roots for a Spiritual Tree

I was just looking over Jacob 5 and was reminded of some things. In the Allegory of the Olive Tree we read:

"And we will nourish again the trees of the vineyard, and we will trim up the branches thereof; and we will pluck from the trees those branches which are ripened,that must perish, and cast them into the fire."And this I do that, perhaps, the roots thereof may take strength because of their goodness; and because of the change of the branches, that the good may overcome the evil."(Jacob 5: 58-59)

The Lord desires our happiness and in this situation there were some branches of the trees which needed to be trimmed as they had become bad, this was done to enable the roots to continue in goodness, and for it to take strength. I thought how this is similar to our lives, that sometimes the Lord sees things about our character that are becoming 'ripened', and that threaten our spiritual roots. Our spiritual tree can't survive whilst branches like pride, greed, lust, impatience, arrogance, negativity and the other gazillion things exist that drive away the Spirit of the Lord. Our strength lies in our roots, and the only real strength comes when Christ is our root. Through His goodness we can change, and we can find peace.

I am so thankful to know that I have a Saviour who cares about the life I am leading, and also cares enough not to allow me to continue in error without His intervention, I also LOVE the fact that I can make Him happy when when I freely choose to do right.

I hope no matter where you are today in this beautiful world, that you will be able to find an increase in happiness.

My Thoughts on Fishing - Part 1

Peter, James and John had worked through the night trying to catch some fish, but had caught nothing.

The Saviour then comes to them and says:

"Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught (or catch)". (Luke 5:2-11)

Simon Peter replies that they had tried all night to catch fish, but have been unsuccessful, nevertheless they will try again, because He has asked them to.

As they followed the Saviour they caught a great multitude of fish, that filled two boats, so much so that the boats were in danger of sinking.

The miracle that happened wouldn't have been so great, and Simon Peter's faith in the Saviours instruction to cast their nets again wouldn't have meant so much, if success had not been witheld from them previously.

Sometimes the Lord witholds blessings from us, not because He doesn't love us, but so that He can show us HOW MUCH He loves us, and sometimes it takes us to 'launch out into the deep' to find those things which have been hidden from our view previously, and to really find ourselves.

I hope that you have a great day, and if things don't seem to be working out the way that you had hoped despite your best efforts, then take courage, the blessings are just around the corner waiting to be found. Things always work out when we exercise faith.

Making the Most of it

2 Nephi 5:16:

“And I, Nephi, did build a temple; and I did construct it after the manner of the temple of Solomon save it were not built of so many precious things; for they were not to be found upon the land, wherefore, it could not be built like unto Solomon's temple. But the manner of the construction was like unto the temple of Solomon; and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine.”

I read this scripture a couple of days ago, and loved how resourceful Nephi was. Coming closer to Christ and worshipping the Lord was important to Nephi, and although he didn’t have the resources available to him that Solomon had, he made the best of the things he DID have, and made it holy. Sometimes in our own lives as well we may want to wait for everything to be perfect, or covet someone else’s gifts or talents, thinking that we can’t do what they have done as we don’t have those same abilities - but that’s a sad error, as the life we build, to be a happy one, is made holy when we use whatever God has blessed us with, and then look to Him to make up the rest ~ and do you know what, when we put our trust in Him, He always does:)

Leaning into Trust

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding".
“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths". (Proverbs 3:5-6)

This scripture was mentioned at least a couple of times during General Conference April 2005. I have always loved it, but have always abbreviated it in my mind to: 'Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; ….and he shall direct thy paths.'

Two other parts really struck me this time though, and have stuck with me since. I thought about the word ‘lean’, and what we lean on. It seems the Lord is saying to us: “give your heart to me, don’t solely rely on your own thoughts/opinions”. Sometimes we can work things out in our minds, trying to see what makes sense or what is logical, and ‘lean’ on that. The image that I had in my mind was that of walking down a path, and along this path we have to make decisions,we come to some ‘forks’. I then thought, “well how can we progress if we are leaning on something?” - I imagined leaning against a wall, and therefore halting my progress, as your feet are no longer moving. I’ve seen that in my own life, times where relying on my own understanding and trying to work things out in my mind has stopped me being directed, because I have closed my heart to divine guidance.

I remember when my best friend had asked me to pray about going on a mission – I remember thinking “are you crazy, what would I want to do that for?” – but I prayed because I loved her. For 3 months or so, my prayers sounded something like this: “Heavenly Father, do I have to go on a mission? Amen”. My heart definitely wasn’t open, whilst my mind definitely thought of all the fun I could have at home, the thought of talking to strangers (or anyone!) about the gospel was just so scary, and I really couldn’t imagine contributing to the building of the kingdom in that way. I don’t remember what happened, but one day I remember thinking, “Sarah, sort yourself out! Pray and have faith, and Heavenly Father will do the rest”. So that night and prayed and said, “Heavenly Father, I will go if Thou wants me to, and I know that Thou wilt change my heart so that I will be excited to go, I just want to know Thy will for me.”. Well, that night I had a dream and woke up, with the first words being “I’m going on my mission”, and as I heard myself say these words my heart changed in an instant, and I was filled with a great desire to serve in this way –which I will always be grateful for.

The Lord says: “And I will give them one heart, and Will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:”
“That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people,and I will be their God.”(Ezekiel 11:19 - 20)

The Lord can and does change hearts. Progress happens when we take leaps of faith, trusting the Lord, even at the expense of what we sometimes think is wisdom, knowing that the Lord desires our happiness, and will change our hearts so that the journey will bring joy to us.

I find that so exciting. I hope your day is happy, and once again, thanks for listening to one my rambles:)

Promises & Timing

I was talking with a friend the other week about God’s promises, and why some promises aren’t immediate.

You’ll remember Abraham’s promise that his seed would be as the sands of the earth, yet Sarah was not able to conceive for many many years. Then when they had Isaac he was told to sacrifice him – surely these things made him question how his promise would be fulfilled.

Then we have the example of Moses who was told that he would take the children of Israel from bondage to the promised land that took well over 40 years to be fulfilled.

There are many other examples throughout the scriptures or in church history, and I am sure in your own life too. This scripture came to mind as we talked:
“Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: …. the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,….” (1 Peter 1:6 – 7)

Sometimes in the middle of the “rejoicing” sandwich there is heaviness for a season. So many blessings come from feeling heavy at times – we realize a deeper need to be closer to the Saviour; our level of gratitude when the promises is fulfilled is that much more; we have increased empathy and love for others who may struggle; we develop patience and learn how to really pray; we can feel more motivated to live the gospel in word and deed, we daily seek for joy where joy can be found; we gain that all precious eternal perspective about life; and so many more. One day we will look back and realize how precious the experience was, and thank God for it.

“For he will fulfil all his promises which he shall make unto you, for he has fulfilled his promises which he has made unto our fathers.” (Alma 37:17)

I hope you have a lovely day.