Words of Wisdom

Yesterday was Stake Conference and it was wonderful. There were so many important messages given and the music was lovely. Our Stake President's talk, though, really touched me. He shared the story of when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were thrown into a fiery furnace for refusing to worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. When threatened with this, their reply to the King was "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to a deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. " He then talked about the trials that we have in our lives and how we have expectations that by living our lives a certain way we will be blessed with reprieve. But what happens if we are not? Do we decide that if we do not receive the blessings that God has forgotten us or does not exist at all? Or do we understand that we are loved and watched over especially in our darkest hours? Then he began to list trials that we all pass through and ask if we can answer in the same way as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.

God will bless me with health and strength, but if not...
God will bless me with the means to care for my family, but if not...
God will bless me with a happy marriage and family, but if not...

Then he asked us to insert the trials that we are passing through.

God will bless me with ________________, but if not...

It was not difficult to come up with my own list to think about. There are certain desires that I have for my family and myself, but I must accept the fact that if those desires do not materialize it does not mean that my Heavenly Father does not know my heart or my worthiness. It only means that I have to trust more that He also knows what is best for me and the people I love.

What a great reminder.