We had stake conference on Saturday and Sunday. The Sunday general session was very long, not because it went over, but because we had to sit in the front and keep Camille quiet for two hours. Despite Camille's best efforts, I still managed to mostly pay attention.
The stake president spoke about feeling the Spirit. I really liked one thing he said, and I've thought about it quite a bit since then. Why is it that sometimes we seek revelation regarding a proposed course of action, especially for important decision such as marriage, relocating, or accepting employment, but then things go badly? The marriage may not happen or may happen and later fail. The new job may end shortly in resignation or termination. Did the communication line somehow get messed up, or was the revelation imagined? The stake president's ideas were that you received revelation to proceed, not a prophecy of how things would turn out. In other words, you can receive revelation to do what you were asking, but it's not a guarantee that it will end how you thought. You have to live your life to see how the story ends. We can receive prophesying revelation, but I think it is both much less common and very different than confirmation that a course of action is acceptable.
Those are just some thoughts that have been swirling around my head that I felt to share. If you're interested in reading a talk about revelation, here's a good one: http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=568.
2 comments:
Good thoughts, Sarah. Here are a couple of quotes I like:
Bruce R. McConkie
“ Use both agency and prayer. It is not, never has been, and never will be the design and purpose of the Lord—however much we seek him in prayer—to answer all our problems and concerns without struggle and effort on our part. This mortality is a probationary estate. In it we have our agency. We are being tested to see how we will respond in various situations; how we will decide issues; what course we will pursue while we are here walking, not by sight, but by faith. Hence, we are to solve our own problems and then to counsel with the Lord in prayer and receive a spiritual confirmation that our decisions are correct” ( “Why the Lord Ordained Prayer,” Ensign, Jan. 1976, 11 ).
Dallin H. Oaks:
“A desire to be led by the Lord is a strength, but it needs to be accompanied by an understanding that our Heavenly Father leaves many decisions for our personal choices. Personal decision making is one of the sources of the growth we are meant to experience in mortality. Persons who try to shift all decision making to the Lord and plead for revelation in every choice will soon find circumstances in which they pray for guidance and don’t receive it. For example, this is likely to occur in those numerous circumstances in which the choices are trivial or either choice is acceptable.
“We should study things out in our minds, using the reasoning powers our Creator has placed within us. Then we should pray for guidance and act upon it if we receive it. If we do not receive guidance, we should act upon our best judgment. Persons who persist in seeking revelatory guidance on subjects on which the Lord has not chosen to direct us may concoct an answer out of their own fantasy or bias, or they may even receive an answer through the medium of false revelation. Revelation from God is a sacred reality, but like other sacred things, it must be cherished and used properly so that a great strength does not become a disabling weakness” ( “Our Strengths Can Become Our Downfall,” Ensign, Oct. 1994, 13–14 ).
Great post. I have never thought about revelation like this. I appreciate your thought provoking words :) Have a great weekend!
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