If you want to learn how to fish, who do you ask to teach you?
If your car breaks down, who do you ask to fix it?
If you want to learn a new trade, who do you find?
If you see a ghost, who you gonna call?
If we have questions regarding life, the eternities and how to get there.... who are we going to turn to? It's amazing to me how often we seek professionals for the smallest of things and yet we forget to seek God when life is falling apart. Over the last year we have heard numerous messages from prophets and apostles concerning personal revelation and I'm excited to share my experiences and lessons learned. I will be sharing them in many posts over this next year and hope to hear back from you and what you have experienced as well!
Personal Revelation is a remarkable thing. It is a gift that comes to each of us as we seek God and His help and as we live worthy to receive it. Personal Revelation is as it is called, personal. One of the mistakes we can make is forgetting this. Just because you receive an answer doesn't mean that this is the same answer for someone else. Our excitement over feeling confident in what God has given us can turn to pride and even create division among Gods children. In a talk I heard a while go by Dieter Uchtdorf, he spoke about how in every war both sides believe their cause to be just and good. The error lies in trying to force others to live according to answers we received through "Personal" Revelation. I have been asked many times, why do we need a Modern-Day Prophet? This answers that question. Only one man has been given all of the authorities and powers from God to lead His church as a whole. This living prophet receives revelation for the entire world! We have local leaders that can receive revelation for the areas they are responsible for, and then we have parents that receive revelations for their families. It is a beautiful thing.
But Personal Revelation is a gift that gives to us continually and will not let us down. I learned the power of prayer as a very young girl. I grew up in a home with physical and emotional abuse. I'm not diving into that right now. I will simply say that I experienced love and joy as a child, but also tremendous pain and loneliness. I will never forget the young girl kneeling on her bed, with my favorite stuffed animal clutched in my arms and tears streaming down my face as I felt the heart break of betrayal and physical pain. The betrayal because the mom and dad that should have protected me didn't and were even the cause of my pain. In that moment of sadness and loss of innocence I felt the warm and loving arms of the Holy Ghost surround me. I felt the love of God wash over me and fill me to overflow. I will never forget that moment nor deny the truth of Gods existence. I learned from that experience that the Holy Ghost wants to comfort us and desires to give us knowledge. He wants us to receive all that God has for us and will be there when we open our hearts in prayer to seek Him.
Because of social media I have found myself at odds with many people I love and respect. One of the things that has caught me by surprise and has really hurt my heart has been this idea that we must agree or we can't be friends. It has felt like a war and I don't like it. This can be the result of many things and people. I could point fingers but that is not for this post. I do think that some of the biggest culprits have been those that seek to tell everyone else how they should be living their lives. I believe they walk a dangerous line that looks similarly to Satan's plan. He wished to control us all and take away our free agency so that we could not error. He believed he knew better than we did and that we were too weak and dumb to do it on our own. Christ's plan was perfect though scary. He wanted us to have our free agency and wished to put faith in us. He knew we would struggle and error but believed that with His help the majority of us would choose the right. This year I have seen many people that have felt themselves above the rest. They have thought to rule over us and force us to make the right choices because they know more. I don't believe most of them are bad people. In fact I know many of them and love and respect them! The error I believe is in their anger for others not following revelation they received personally. I believe that two people can pray over the same issue and receive different answers, AND I don't believe one of them is wrong. Two answers can both be right. This is where Personal Revelation comes into play.
The trial this year has been that there is so much noise and so many people preaching. Everyone is screaming and everyone swears to be right and true. Everyone has facts and proof. If you are only trusting in the arm of man you will be torn to pieces. If you are trusting in only man, you will believe whatever it is that is right in front of you. Again, this is why Personal Revelation is so important. As I have leaned into God this year I have been able to let go of pride and my own knowledge and I have been open to receive direction. At the same time I haven't felt the need to judge others for their choices because I understand this concept. As a natural born debater I am always up for a good debate and if you don't have the thick skin for it, you shouldn't come at me. But there is one person I will not argue with. God. And there is one living man on the earth that I will follow regardless of my own feelings. Our living Prophet.
Revelation is something that comes by small and simple means. But it can be harder to do than to describe. In my own personal life I have received the most revelation as I have prayed daily and immersed myself in the scriptures. Living in accordance with the commandments of God makes us worthy of the Holy Ghost who will deliver answers to us. When I live in fear and anger and sadness I miss the revelations that I might have received otherwise. I have a goal to seek God more this life and to fill my days with light and truth. The only way I know to do this is to constantly seek His truth. The world confuses me and wastes so much of my precious time. But all things from God fill me with energy and light. They give me the power and excitement for the future I need.
I pray we can all see Personal Revelation and respect others as they do the same. Freedom lies at the heart of this. The freedom to have a personal relationship with God and the freedom to life your life as you are inspired and taught to live.
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