For Your Good

"Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith ye have covenanted one with another."

— Doctrine & Covenants 90:24

We've all had one of those days, when nothing seems to go right. You feel like you're running with your head cut off, rushing from one emergency to another, trying to put out all the little fires around you that just keep popping up. When will it all stop?

These are the moments when we ask ourselves - Does God still know I'm here? Where are the blessings He promised? Is what I'm doing even making a difference?

Well, I'm here to tell you that you DO make a difference. You are a child of God, his literal spiritual offspring, and he has not left us alone. He is watching over us day and night, making all things work together for our good. 

What good? you may ask. What good can come of what I am going through?

When Joseph Smith was trapped in Liberty Jail, in the most depraved conditions, he ask God these same questions. And this was the answer he received:

"...If the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?"

– Doctrine & Covenants 122:7-8

Don't give up. Hold onto hope. To Faith. To determination. It is always darkest before the dawn. But we have received a promise from our loving Heavenly Father that if we are diligent and faithful to our covenants, he will be faithful to us. 

It will all work out.

Order or Chaos?

"Set in order your houses; keep slothfulness and uncleanness far from you."

— Doctrine & Covenants 90:18

This verse is one of my husband's main themes in life. He loves to have a clean house. He says when the house is clean, then he can truly relax. And isn't that true for everyone? When things are clean, organized, and put in their place, the house feels so much more comfortable to be in. Truly, when the house is in order, the spirit of the Lord can come and dwell with us.

Our Heavenly Father is a God of Order, not a God of Chaos. He cannot dwell in uncleanness. That can be taken literally, as well as spiritually. Where there is dirt and clutter, it is hard to be comfortable, let alone feel the spirit of the Lord.

Does the God of Order dwell in your home? Or the God of Chaos? Life can be very challenging, especially when you have little ones at home. I myself am far from perfect. But it is important to instill in our families the importance of having a clean home, so we can feel the peace that comes with cleanliness. And where there is peace there is God.

I challenge you to look at your home this week with new eyes – are things in order, or is your home ruled by chaos? Choose one thing to set in order, and set a goal to be consistent with it throughout the week. Tell your family about your goal. Get them involved. Through God's help and grace your home can become a haven of peace and order.

Sing For Joy!

"For it shall come to pass in that day, that every man shall hear the fulness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language, through those who are ordained unto this power, by the administration of the Comforter, shed forth upon them for the revelation of Jesus Christ."

— Doctrine & Covenants 90:11

Church sisters in Africa

I am so happy that I live in a day to see this revelation be fulfilled. Today, the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is alive in well in almost the entire world. According to a post on LDS Church Growth, in 2011 there were only 41 countries and territories in the ENTIRE world that did not have a church presence there. The Holy Bible has been translated into nearly 200 languages. As of 2009, the Book of Mormon has been translated into 89 languages, and selections of it translated into another 26 languages. During General Conference, the meetings are available in nearly 100 languages and dialects.

What an amazing time this is, when the gospel of Jesus Christ floods the earth! In the words of Thomas S. Monson – "How grateful we are that the heavens are indeed open, that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored, and that the Church is founded on the rock of revelation. We are a blessed people, with apostles and prophets upon the earth today." 

It makes me want to sing for joy!