Submitting My Will to God's Will
Every once in a while I have one of those days where it seems like God is trying to tell me something. Yesterday was one of those days.
This past year, every Sunday before church, we have watched a General Conference talk. The talk that Josh selected for us to watch yesterday morning was entitled "Gifts", given by President Thomas S. Monson in April of 1993. At the end of his talk, he mentioned something in closing that I had heard before, but that touched me more powerfully this time. They were the words of President Harold B. Lee: “Life is God’s gift to man. What we do with our life is our gift to God.”
In Sacrament Meeting yesterday, the talks given were about obedience. One of the speakers quoted Elder Neal A. Maxwell: “The submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar. The many other things we ‘give,’ … are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us. However, when you and I finally submit ourselves, by letting our individual wills be swallowed up in God’s will, then we are really giving something to Him! It is the only possession which is truly ours to give!”
In Sunday School, the lesson was on building Zion. We discussed what we need to do as individuals to help build Zion, and it was brought up that we need to align our hearts and minds with God's. That "...the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind..."(Moses 7:18) It was also pointed out that we should be anxiously engaged in building Zion, whether in ourselves, our families, our wards or in the world. To me, the thought came that this means serving diligently in our callings, wherever we might be called.
Last night, we gathered to watch a couple movies that Steven had received for his birthday/Christmas. (He bought them with a gift card he received for his birthday, and then he wrapped them so he could open them for Christmas.) One was "Only a Stonecutter", about a man who worked as a stonecutter on the Salt Lake Temple, walking twenty miles each week to perform that calling, even with a wooden leg. The part that stood out to me was when he was talking with his wife as he prepared to journey to Salt Lake for the first time after the accident that took his leg. He told her, "I don't recall being released as a stonemason, do you?" He also tells her, "Callings are seldom convenient, are they, Mother?"
The second movie we watched was called "Ephraim's Rescue" (made by the same people who made "17 Miracles") which tells the story of Ephraim Hanks, one of those who went to rescue the Martin handcart company. The message I came away with was the importance of being prepared, of being ready whenever the call to serve comes. And not just to be ready, but to be willing to serve whenever and wherever we might be needed, even if it is difficult.
Before I went to bed, as I was thinking about the recurring messages that I had seen and heard throughout the day, I tried to figure out how the things that I had heard applied to me. In September, Our ward music chairperson and music director was released, and I was called to serve as the ward music director. I also got to "cover" until a ward music chairperson was called, selecting hymns and arranging musical numbers (and frankly feeling a bit overwhelmed as I was also filling my two other callings). At the end of October, a chairperson was called, but she experienced a family crisis and I again had to fill those responsibilities through the month of November. Finally, she was able to plan the music for December, including the Christmas program, but she was moving. Yesterday was her last Sunday in our ward, and she was released. Again, our ward is without a music chairperson, and I assume that those responsibilities will again fall on me until a new one is called.
I was begrudging the extra unofficial responsibilities. I was feeling overwhelmed by all I was being asked to do at church. But I think I need to change my attitude. I love my calling to teach in Relief Society, and although I do spend a lot of time preparing my lessons, I wouldn't want to be released from that. As for playing the piano in Relief Society and being ward music director, there are few people in our ward who have musical experience and are willing to serve in musical capacities. (The Relief Society has been trying to find a chorister for months and have so far been unsuccessful.) Selecting hymns for Sacrament Meeting is not something that is difficult. I do have the time, if I set aside the time to do it. I may only have to do it for a few more weeks, after all. I can be willing to help where I am needed. I can submit my will to God's. I can do what he wants me to do.
This past year, every Sunday before church, we have watched a General Conference talk. The talk that Josh selected for us to watch yesterday morning was entitled "Gifts", given by President Thomas S. Monson in April of 1993. At the end of his talk, he mentioned something in closing that I had heard before, but that touched me more powerfully this time. They were the words of President Harold B. Lee: “Life is God’s gift to man. What we do with our life is our gift to God.”
In Sacrament Meeting yesterday, the talks given were about obedience. One of the speakers quoted Elder Neal A. Maxwell: “The submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar. The many other things we ‘give,’ … are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us. However, when you and I finally submit ourselves, by letting our individual wills be swallowed up in God’s will, then we are really giving something to Him! It is the only possession which is truly ours to give!”
In Sunday School, the lesson was on building Zion. We discussed what we need to do as individuals to help build Zion, and it was brought up that we need to align our hearts and minds with God's. That "...the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind..."(Moses 7:18) It was also pointed out that we should be anxiously engaged in building Zion, whether in ourselves, our families, our wards or in the world. To me, the thought came that this means serving diligently in our callings, wherever we might be called.
Last night, we gathered to watch a couple movies that Steven had received for his birthday/Christmas. (He bought them with a gift card he received for his birthday, and then he wrapped them so he could open them for Christmas.) One was "Only a Stonecutter", about a man who worked as a stonecutter on the Salt Lake Temple, walking twenty miles each week to perform that calling, even with a wooden leg. The part that stood out to me was when he was talking with his wife as he prepared to journey to Salt Lake for the first time after the accident that took his leg. He told her, "I don't recall being released as a stonemason, do you?" He also tells her, "Callings are seldom convenient, are they, Mother?"
The second movie we watched was called "Ephraim's Rescue" (made by the same people who made "17 Miracles") which tells the story of Ephraim Hanks, one of those who went to rescue the Martin handcart company. The message I came away with was the importance of being prepared, of being ready whenever the call to serve comes. And not just to be ready, but to be willing to serve whenever and wherever we might be needed, even if it is difficult.
Before I went to bed, as I was thinking about the recurring messages that I had seen and heard throughout the day, I tried to figure out how the things that I had heard applied to me. In September, Our ward music chairperson and music director was released, and I was called to serve as the ward music director. I also got to "cover" until a ward music chairperson was called, selecting hymns and arranging musical numbers (and frankly feeling a bit overwhelmed as I was also filling my two other callings). At the end of October, a chairperson was called, but she experienced a family crisis and I again had to fill those responsibilities through the month of November. Finally, she was able to plan the music for December, including the Christmas program, but she was moving. Yesterday was her last Sunday in our ward, and she was released. Again, our ward is without a music chairperson, and I assume that those responsibilities will again fall on me until a new one is called.
I was begrudging the extra unofficial responsibilities. I was feeling overwhelmed by all I was being asked to do at church. But I think I need to change my attitude. I love my calling to teach in Relief Society, and although I do spend a lot of time preparing my lessons, I wouldn't want to be released from that. As for playing the piano in Relief Society and being ward music director, there are few people in our ward who have musical experience and are willing to serve in musical capacities. (The Relief Society has been trying to find a chorister for months and have so far been unsuccessful.) Selecting hymns for Sacrament Meeting is not something that is difficult. I do have the time, if I set aside the time to do it. I may only have to do it for a few more weeks, after all. I can be willing to help where I am needed. I can submit my will to God's. I can do what he wants me to do.
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