"And it came to pass that the Lord commanded them that they should go forth into the wilderness, yea, into that quarter where there never had man been. And it came to pass that the Lord did go before them, and did talk with them as he stood in a cloud, and gave directions whither they should travel."
Ether 2:5
This is part of the story of the Jaredites, which at least in this part is a little bit like the story of Noah as far as the whole taking animals with them thing. They even take containers with fish and carry bees with them as they travel. What I really love about this verse though is that God was going with them, talking to them and giving them directions the whole way. I mean, I thought the Liahona was cool, but having God go with you and show you the way in person... even cooler.
I was thinking about this and realized that we can actually have almost all of this in our own lives. Maybe not the physical cloud, but we can actually talk to God every day and get directions from him as we need them. Prayer and scripture study are the way that we communicate with God. Prayer is primarily the way that we talk to him, and the scriptures are often the way that he speaks to us. I'm not saying, of course, that we can't have more dramatic things happen to us, but in thinking about it I don't think we realize how dramatic those things already are, or can be.
It might be impatience. As with most things, we expend the tiniest effort and we want immediate and immense results to prove that our miniscule effort was worth it. But that isn't typically the way that God works. He might offer immediate feedback occasionally when the situation warrants it (in God's mind, not ours), but often we need to learn patience and faith, which means that our effort probably needs to be sustained more than a couple of minutes. :) … and sometimes, of course, a lot longer. And we need to learn to listen to the spirit and remove distractions in our lives so we can tune into that still, small voice, so our answers are likely to be soft and quiet. We might get huge and persistent again, when the situation warrants it, but that definitely isn't typical.
Once we learn how it works though, and we get in the habit of communicating with God regularly, then it's normal to get up and pray and feel him there. To read, and get hints about how the scriptures apply to our lives popping into our minds throughout the day. Those things that are dramatic to people who don't have them are our new normal.
Today, let's work on our consistency in reaching out to God through prayer, and inviting him in through scripture study. We can, like the Jaredites, have God join us on our daily walk, and get directions from him as needed if we include him in our lives. That kind of company and direction starts with just a small, daily effort, and turns into something that can lift and sustain us our whole lives. Let's do it. :)
Ether 2:5
This is part of the story of the Jaredites, which at least in this part is a little bit like the story of Noah as far as the whole taking animals with them thing. They even take containers with fish and carry bees with them as they travel. What I really love about this verse though is that God was going with them, talking to them and giving them directions the whole way. I mean, I thought the Liahona was cool, but having God go with you and show you the way in person... even cooler.
I was thinking about this and realized that we can actually have almost all of this in our own lives. Maybe not the physical cloud, but we can actually talk to God every day and get directions from him as we need them. Prayer and scripture study are the way that we communicate with God. Prayer is primarily the way that we talk to him, and the scriptures are often the way that he speaks to us. I'm not saying, of course, that we can't have more dramatic things happen to us, but in thinking about it I don't think we realize how dramatic those things already are, or can be.
It might be impatience. As with most things, we expend the tiniest effort and we want immediate and immense results to prove that our miniscule effort was worth it. But that isn't typically the way that God works. He might offer immediate feedback occasionally when the situation warrants it (in God's mind, not ours), but often we need to learn patience and faith, which means that our effort probably needs to be sustained more than a couple of minutes. :) … and sometimes, of course, a lot longer. And we need to learn to listen to the spirit and remove distractions in our lives so we can tune into that still, small voice, so our answers are likely to be soft and quiet. We might get huge and persistent again, when the situation warrants it, but that definitely isn't typical.
Once we learn how it works though, and we get in the habit of communicating with God regularly, then it's normal to get up and pray and feel him there. To read, and get hints about how the scriptures apply to our lives popping into our minds throughout the day. Those things that are dramatic to people who don't have them are our new normal.
Today, let's work on our consistency in reaching out to God through prayer, and inviting him in through scripture study. We can, like the Jaredites, have God join us on our daily walk, and get directions from him as needed if we include him in our lives. That kind of company and direction starts with just a small, daily effort, and turns into something that can lift and sustain us our whole lives. Let's do it. :)
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