Choosing to Live in the Direction of our Blessings

A little more than a year ago I was given a Priesthood Blessing from the Lord and the promises made were huge – potentially life changing. I still vividly remember sitting in the Branch President’s office, Priesthood Holders’ hands on my head as the words were spoken, my jaw gaping, thinking something along the lines of: ‘Wow. Game-changer.’ Since then I’ve thought often of that blessing and especially about it’s consequences. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed thinking about how I have no idea how those promised blessing can possibly come to pass. Sometimes I don’t feel worthy of them. But in moments of clarity I know that I have to point my entire life toward the outcome promised and press forward; I need to live, act and think worthily to receive every measure of those promises made to me by the Lord.

Elder Carlos A. Godoy spoke on this topic in October, 2014 General Conference:

“…Life was good, and everything seemed to be as it should be—until one day an old friend came to visit us.

At the conclusion of his visit, he made a comment and asked a question that unsettled my convictions. He said, “Carlos, everything seems to be going well for you, your family, your career, and your service in the Church, but—” and then came the question, “if you continue to live as you are living, will the blessings promised in your patriarchal blessing be fulfilled?”

I had never thought about my patriarchal blessing in this way. I read it from time to time but never with the intent of looking toward the blessings promised in the future and evaluating how I was living in the present.

After his visit, I turned my attention to my patriarchal blessing, wondering, “If we continue to live as we are living, will the promised blessings be fulfilled?” After some pondering, I had the feeling that some changes were necessary, particularly in relation to my education and profession.”

In his talk, Elder Godoy gave three principles to help make sure we align our decisions with God’s promises:

1. We Need to Consider Our Options with the End in Mind

2. We Need to Be Prepared for the Challenges That Will Come

3. We Need to Share This Vision with the People We Love

Sometimes it takes time (the Lord’s time) to see results. While we actively wait, work, watch and anticipate we can always look to the words of our blessings for reassurance, guidance and direction. We should each have a typed copy of our patriarchal blessing. If you need a copy of yours you can order it easily on LDS.org. Did you know that we are allowed to audio record other blessings such as fathers’ blessings for our own records? (It’s in the handbook.) If you aren’t able to audio record a blessing be sure to journal what you remember as soon as possible so you can refer back.

We often have to change the way we think, act and expect in order to realize our full potential as God sees it. My biggest failings in the effort to live in the right direction usually come from impatience and from placing so much importance on what I want that I don’t recognize the actual blessings as they unfold in my life.

Our part of the “bargain” in priesthood blessings is to live according to the promises made. This requires an enormous amount of faith and daily action on our part. It takes us out of our comfort zones and pushes us to trust the Lord in ways we never could have imagined before. I had to make massive directional changes in my life and the very way I live it to get on board with the blessing I received. It changed the fundamental nature of my daily life. It wasn’t an easy process. It took months and I was truly tested at every change of heart and every paradigm shift. But the outcome! Oh, that is wonderful!

Since that blessing, more than a year ago, I’ve received several more priesthood blessings and now I realize that each and every priesthood blessing contains potentially life-changing information; every priesthood blessing is a communication and covenant to us from God. Let us all choose to live in the direction of our blessings.