GOD'S PLAN

TESTIMONY

I know that Heavenly Father is our Father and love us very much.  He has a created a plan to help us progress and become more like Him.  He wants us all to return to live with Him again.  This life is not only a test, but an experience to find joy as well.  It is only through following God’s plan by keeping the commandments and covenants, that we will become more like Him.

I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior who suffered and sacrificed His life so that we may repent and be worthy of God’s presence.  I am grateful for his humility and willingness to take on such a task.  I know that through Christ’s suffering, He knows exactly what we experience in this life; He has experienced it all.

I know that the commandments guide us to perfection.  As humans we don’t know everything and instead of trial and error, God has provided us with guidelines of what to follow to bring the most happiness to us.

Repentance is a blessing that not only erases our sins, but humbles us to realize that we are not perfect and need God in our lives.  We must continually repent and use the atonement to perfect ourselves. 

Even though we don’t know everything that goes on and what will happen in the future, I know that God does know and is looking out for our best interest.  I know that we must experience trials and to have opposition in our lives to grow and develop God-like attributes.  I know that we can be given more than we can handle, but with God’s help – we can overcome EVERYTHING.  

President Monson:  To understand the meaning of death, we must appreciate the purpose of life. The dim light of belief must yield to the noonday sun of revelation, by which we know that we lived before our birth into mortality. In our premortal state, we were doubtless among the sons and daughters of God who shouted for joy because of the opportunity to come to this challenging yet necessary mortal existence.5 We knew that our purpose was to gain a physical body, to overcome trials, and to prove that we would keep the commandments of God. Our Father knew that because of the nature of mortality, we would be tempted, would sin, and would fall short. So that we might have every chance of success, He provided a Savior, who would suffer and die for us. Not only would He atone for our sins, but as a part of that Atonement, He would also overcome the physical death to which we would be subject because of the Fall of Adam. (General Conference)

TO BE LIKE HIM

We are here on earth to become perfect like Christ.  We must work on becoming the best version of ourselves.  When it comes to change – we must accept that we don’t have control over others and focus on changing ourselves for the better.

We shouldn’t compare ourselves to others – we are each given a unique set of weaknesses, trials, and strengths.  Love and support others, but change yourself through repentance and knowledge.

JOY

We are here to experience joy as well as sorrow.  2 Nephi 2:25:

“Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.”

We have a very narrow perspective of this world and don’t always understand why things happen the way they do.  As we trust God and follow His plan, He will lead us to everlasting joy.

Russell Willingham:  “As children we had dreams of being firemen, policemen, football players and other such heroes.  Why those longings?  Because we hungered to make a difference in the world.  God put this desire in us.  As adults many of us have given up on our dream of making a difference.  We have settled for making ends meet and experiencing as much happiness as our limited incomes will allow.  But deep inside a voice still says, “You were meant for more than this.”  (Breaking Free: Understanding Sexual Addiction & the Healing Power of Jesus P.153)

CONTROL

Focus on what you can control and don’t get too discouraged when others make bad decisions. 

Reinhold Neibuhr:

“God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.   
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
If I surrender to His will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with Him forever in the next.”

“Today I am defined by character traits that developed out of my journey through pain.  Only God is big enough to show me triumph over tragedy.” (Shattered Vows: Hope and Healing for Women Who Have Been Sexually Betrayed: by Debra Laaser, page 241)

I recommend reading: “I don’t have to make everything all better” – by Lundberg.  I have a fix-it mentality, wanting to come up with a solution to every problem presented to me.  I have learned that sometimes people just want to find and that they don’t need help fixing things.  Instead we can empower people by offering validation.  We want to feel listened to and understand.

For example, when one of my children wants candy at a check-out stand and starts crying for it, I can say “oh, you want some candy?”  Just by acknowledging her feelings and showing that I am listening and care helps calm her down and accept that she won’t get it.  Empowerment helps change people.

I have also learned to try and pray for others without taking away their agency.  Sometimes we sincerely want the best for someone and pray that they will make the right choice, even though God will not take away our agency.  Instead I try to pray that they will have the righteous DESIRE to make the right choices.

BALANCE

We are easily distracted by the things that are not important in this world.  I gave up trying to read all of the forwarded e-mails of quotes, poems, stories, pictures, etc. long ago as it can take a lot of time to go through them all and they are not important to me.  The personal e-mails are my priority.  I have learned that there are good things and there are better things.  We must find balance with giving the better things first priority.