FEAR
I don’t know if anyone has had the same experience I have.
Lately I have been very depressed with what is in the news. Even what I learned
within my classes at BYU Idaho fill me with dread and doubt. There’s so much
going on in the world to fear. Not only is there war in contention but there
also attacks on her personal liberty.
There is a UN document called the Convention On the Rights
of the Child that wouldn't act policies that trump our U.S. Constitution and
take away a lot of parental rights. This document includes such things as
allowing children to seek government intervention if they don’t like what their
parents are teaching them. There is a clause that would demand children of even
very young ages the right to not attend religious services of their parents.
And the one that scares me the most is that children would be able to seek
sexually related medical advice without the consent or knowledge of their
caregivers.
This is only one of the very many laws and policies in
general feelings towards the family that are starting to creep into our lives.
Most of them fill me with dread. How my spouse to raise a child in this kind of
world?
Well here’s a few words of hope.
The first is that there is a God in heaven who is still very
active in the minds of his mortal children. He loves children and families and
will do all he can to see their protection without taking away our free agency.
We’ve been promised that if we follow his commandments then
we will receive blessings. This applies to communities, states, nations, individuals
and families. If I am doing my best to love and care for my children follow God’s
commandments my family will be blessed.
Read
Isaiah 55:8–11;
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith
the Lord.
9 For as the heavens
are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts
than your thoughts.
10 For as the rain
cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth
the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the
sower, and bread to the eater:
11 So shall my word
be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it
shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto
I sent it.
Jacob 4:8;
Behold, great and marvelous are the works of the Lord. How unsearchable are the
depths of the mysteries of him; and it is impossible that man should find out
all his ways. And no man knoweth of his ways save it be revealed unto him;
wherefore, brethren, despise not the revelations of God.
1 Corinthians
2:14–16, 14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned.
15 But he that is
spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
16 For who hath known
the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
How is the message of these verses one of comfort?
I
received comfort from these verses because I know that the Lord’s ways are
higher than the ways of carnal men. He has greater knowledge and power than all
the people on the earth who have ever lived or ever will live combined. This
means that if I put my trust in him I am picking the best soldier to fight my
war. If he wants to see families strengthened and protected it will be done. If
I follow in his ways I will find a way through the murky darkness and confusion
that the world offers. In this way will be a way of happiness.
How can we come to better understand God’s thoughts and
ways?
God is
not silent. He speaks to his children on earth. We can receive his thoughts and
ways through three means.
The
first is by kneeling down in honest and sincere prayer and asking for his help.
Our answers will most likely not come in the ways we expect. They will be a
feeling in her heart, a voice in her mind, or an event that reveals something
to us.
The
second is by reading the Scriptures. These are the words of ancient prophets.
The
last is by listening to the Council of his modern living prophets. These are
men who have been called of God and given special keys to act as the Lord’s
advocate on earth for his people. They can be found within the Church of Jesus
Christ of latter-day Saints.
Give an example of when you have observed a clear example of
God’s ways being higher than man’s ways.
I have
observed an example in my own life of how God’s ways are higher than man’s. In
Mansfield marriage is something that two people do when they are “in love”. But
the way the world the finds love is different than the real thing. The world
sees love as an emotion. God sees love as an action. In my marriage I and my
husband have been able to overcome several obstacles. Including discontent with
each other. This is because we understand that love isn’t something that just
happens. It is something that you have to work at. It is something you have to
take action on to find.
