Need to Act

 “I have looked upon thee and thy works. I have heard thy prayers, and prepared thee for a greater work.” - Docterine and Covenants 35:3

This morning, I listened to Elder Ciro Schmeil's talk, Faith to Act and Become, as I started my day. I liked it so much that I listened to it twice. I felt he was talking to me when he was talking to me in the "Talk to Become" section. He talks about Nephi and his brothers getting the brass plates. They were instructed by the Lord to go to Laban for the plate. Nephi said he would do so because the Lord had instructed him to do so. When his brothers questioned the wisdom in doing this because it was a difficult task, Nephi said that he would do as the Lord instructed him knowing he would have divine help. They were met with a lot of opposition, but Nephi did not give up. In the end, he was shown the way to complete his task and did so without the help of his brothers. 

Growing up, this story was always relayed to show the faith Nephi had. Elder Schmiel relayed it as a story to illustrate how the Lord will help us as we earnestly seek for answers. He points out that we are not given an easy life with all of the answers just because we believe. We have to find our own answers as we learn from the struggles we face. (Sound similar to what I was writing about earlier this week?)

As he continued speaking, Elder Schmiel, talked about not comparing our life's journey with others around us. This is where it really felt like he was talking to me. I often compare myself to others who appear to be or I am told are better than me. I need to remember that my life has been different from theirs. No one has been through the exact same journey. About this he said, "We must keep in mind that this is not a competition, and we are here to love and help each other." 

When we act in faith to be like our Savior, we can lose ourselves in His work. We are not going to be given an easy life, but He did not have an easy life either. We will be given help to overcome our obstacles as we search for answers and work to help ourselves and others. This may look different from those around us, but that is ok. That does not diminish our worth or their. It just means we are different people which is good.