Church was fantastic yesterday. Honestly, it usually is. I really don't know how I'd make it through my week without it. Yesterday, the Bishop taught Relief Society. He shared with us the story of Abraham and Sarah. The Lord promised Abraham that he and Sarah's posterity would be as numerous as the sands of the sea. Who knows the reasoning of the Lord, but Sarah did not bear Isaac until she was 90 years old. Surely there was disappointment there. Surely there were days when Sarah wondered why she could not have children. Sarah had to learn to trust the Lord and His promises. The Bishop then took us to Doctrine and Covenants 88:68 which reads, "Therefore, asanctify yourselves that your bminds become csingle to God, and the days will come that you shall dsee him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will."
He then asked us how we sanctify ourselves. I thought of Helaman 3. Through persecution the people of God become sanctified because they yield their hearts to God.
The idea of yielding my heart to God is a little scary. It's not that I don't trust Him. It's that I'm afraid of the answer. What if the answer is that my trial is to be alone. I think that is quite possibly the scariest thing that I've ever thought of. I hate the idea of being alone in this life. I know that there are eternal promises but that is not very comforting to me. I want what I want, when I want it. And learning to trust the promises and time-table of the Lord is frightening.
But here's the thing that I realized yesterday. Faith is the conscious decision to put fear aside and to trust that God knows what He is doing. And that I don't need to be afraid because everything will be fine. Doctrine and Covenants 50:41 reads, "Fear not, little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world, and you are of them that my Father hath given me." He has overcome the world. He has all power, all knowledge. He understands me and my needs more fully than I do myself. And I need to trust Him.
The main scripture the Bishop shared with us came from one of my very favorite Book of Mormon passages. King Benjamin counsels us, "Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend." (Mosiah 4:9) That is my goal. To believe in God and His power and to let that belief conquer my fear.
