Today’s Reading: Helaman 10-11
4 Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments.
5 And now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will.
This is what I would love. If I could replace Nephi’s name with my name and hear these wonderful words from the Lord.
“Blessed art thou, Desirae, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word…and now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works…”
Wouldn’t that be an amazing thing to hear from your Lord and Savior?
I hope that I am living my life in a manner in which I can hear words like these from my Savior someday. I definitely feel that I have the unwearyingness thing down. Sometimes I think my family and friends may get a little annoyed with me. “She’s talking about spiritual stuff again?” But I just cannot stop. I am passionate about my Savior and I will be for the rest of my life–here and in the eternities.
This is because I made a promise to Him. I was in the midst of one of the biggest storms of my life…battling Stage 3 Breast Cancer. I had next to nothing left in my tank, physically and mentally. Fortunately my spiritual tank was relatively full so I did the only thing that I could do…I started praying, which actually was more like pleading Heavenly Father for my life. I begged every single day for my Father in Heaven to let me live. I begged him to let me stay with my children and live to be old and gray. In return, I promised him that I would dedicate the rest of my life in service to Him. Not that I wasn’t already serving Him, but there was definitely room for improvement– there always is. I promised Him that I would do everything in my power to share His light, His gospel, and His love to everyone that I possibly could. I promised Him that I would “declare the word with unwearyingness.” And that is the path that I am on. He gave me a second chance at life. I don’t know why He granted me a second chance and has called others home. But I do know that He has a plan for every single person on this earth and I don’t question those plans. I know that each plan is perfect for each individual and it’s not my job to question God. It’s my job to serve Him, obey Him, and keep the covenants I have made with Him. I am doing the best that I can to align my will with His, instead of trying to change His will to suit mine.
“Our Savior wants us to really love Him to the point that we want to align our will with His. We can then feel His love and know His glory. Then He can bless us as he wants to.” -Terence M. Vinson [i]
I love my Heavenly Father. I love my Savior. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to have the gospel in my life and to be able to share it with others as often as I can.
Before I end this post, I just have to mention one other thing about Chapter 10. In verse 7, Nephi was given the sealing power. The sealing power! Isn’t that wonderful? Do we realize exactly how amazing that blessing is in our lives? We have the opportunity to be sealed together forever to our family members. Forever!
“There is nothing that has come or will come into your family as important as the sealing blessings.” -Henry B. Eyring [ii]
I grew up the oldest of 5 children in the blazing heat of Southern Utah. After high school and some college experience I met and married Mark Ogden and we are the parents of four children. I have owned and operated my own home-based preschool for more than a dozen years, and I consider myself an accidental author as well. When I am not in my minivan transporting children from one activity to the next, I enjoy playing the piano, blogging, speaking about my life’s experiences, and feeding my insatiable crafting disease.