One person's hard time is not necessarily someone else's. Likewise what is a big blessing to one may be less significant to another. I remember when we went to Israel. It had been my lifelong, literally, dream to go there and I LOVED it. It was an amazing trip and I think back to it often. Rob describes it as life-changing. He felt like his testimony really grew having been there in person. I didn't. This does not make my experience less than his, just different. The thing is you never know what someone is walking thru, what might really touch them, what might make them sad or glad. This is why we must always be as kind as possible. This is also why we plan FHE lessons, YW classes and activities, temple trips, and quiet conversations. This is why we never ignore an impulse to do something good, or pay a compliment, or give a smile. You never know when something will lift and strengthen another.
My driving devotionals have often become times of testimony growing for me. As I listen to conference, or a pod cast on a gospel topic, I often will feel the spirit warmly testifying to me that Jesus is my Savior, and that He knows and loves me. I am so grateful for those quiet witnesses. Sometimes I find myself driving with tears on my face as I am filled with gratitude.
Two days this week I listened to Follow Him with John Bytheway and Hank Smith. They had John Hilton 3 as their guest. One thing they talked about ways to find the Lord in the delay. When righteous desires or promised blessings seem to not be coming what do we do? How do we not only hold on to faith but actual grow it? As they talked and shared scriptural and personal insights I thought of Ethan, and the many other covid missionaries (Spencer and others) who have served in ways, and for amounts of time, and in places, that are very different than they expected. Ethan was called to Madrid. For 16 months he served in SLC, during that delay he put his whole heart into serving where he was, lifting where he stood, trusting in the Lords timing, and remaining cheerful and optimistic. This is a great example of finding God in the delay. I have a few friends who have wished for an eternal marriage, or for children, and who have not been blessed with those things for many years (or ever). I have had many friends who have wished for a kind and righteous husband and the comfort of a sweet and tender marriage but who are in marriages that are very different than that, a different kind of delay. I have friends with children who are not living good lives, despite having loving and good parents, delay. I could go on and on. I feel very confident that we all actually live “in the delay”most of the time. Finding joy in the disappointments, in the uncomfortable, and the unfair, is an important eternal life skill. We are immeasurably blessed not because of the things we enjoy and have thanks to a loving Father in Heaven but because there is a loving Heavenly Father. It is enough that Jesus and Heavenly Father are.
This is good for me to remember as we struggle to figure out exactly what the next year will look like. Where will we be, how will we be there? There are pros and cons, challenges and risks, uncertainty and hope each way we turn and we have to muddle through and pick and pray for the best. I hate that:)
