The gospel's truths are too powerful for us to manage on occasion...That is why we are so in need of the Spirit–so that knowledge can arc like electricity from point to point, aided and impelled by the Spirit—aid without which we are simply not articulate enough to speak of all the things which we know.i love the language that elder maxwell uses, it is truly beautiful. this devotional is published in a book called the "inexhaustible gospel," and i would highly recommend reading it. elder maxwell's messages are captivating--they make 45 minutes on the elliptical go by so fast.
i had a sort of spiritual nudging from the Spirit the other day. this happens to me a lot--thoughts pop into my head and suddenly i feel a sense of clarity that i hadn't known before (thats what elder maxwell meant, knowledge can arc like electricity with the spirit...lightbulb). it was after one of my professors told our class about serious health problems that he has struggled with for half of his life and then i went to my new testament class and my professor told a story that went something like this: his neighbor works for the church publication system, and is the head of a particular office. the neighbor's son had gone on a mission, served for three months, and then decided to come home because he couldn't quite handle the stresses of it. his father got him a job in the office, and tried to help him have the desire to go back out on his mission. he really didn't have that desire. one day, president monson was scheduled to visit the office for exactly ten minutes to check up on a special project. as he was leaving the office, he stopped to talk to the son. he inquired about how long the son had worked in the office, what his plans were for his life, and asked if he had served a mission. the son told president monson about how he had decided to come home early. president monson proceeded to spend another twenty five minutes talking to this boy about going on a mission. by the end of the conversation, the boy had promised to again prepare himself for a mission and to write to president monson when he was ready to go out into the field again.
i thought about that amazing story and then i thought about the course of my life for the past year. i would never have deferred school for a semester without being forced. but, my heavenly father knew that i needed to learn a few things and i guess that january to august 2010 was the time to do it. i know that the boy struggling to go on a mission and my professor who constantly struggles with health problems are both children of a heavenly father, who knows them personally and knows when they need spiritual and emotional uplifting. i think heavenly father knew i needed to take a break from my frenetic pace. i needed a physical and emotional rest, among other things.
to reinforce one of the important lessons that i learned, heavenly father reminded me again to maintain balance in my life a few weeks ago. i was set apart for my calling on the activities committee along with five other people. so, we each sat and listened to each person's blessing. my blessing was the only one that mentioned striving to keep balance in my life, and that is pretty much all that was mentioned in the blessing. tender mercy from my heavenly father right there: he knows me personally. he knows that i have no time to waste in my day. he knows that i worry about getting everything done that needs to be done. and he is also there to remind me to do those things that i want to do...even when it doesn't seem that there is time to do them. what a wonderful reminder.
