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God’s Perspective or View of Our Lives

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Last week I was able to teach Relief Society for the first time. It was the most nerve racking experience ever, but I am so grateful for the spirit that helped me in deciding what I should talk about, and for my awesome mom who helped me understand the concept a little better! I thought I would share most of what I said here on my blog. It was definitely a lesson that was for me, something I needed in my life at this time!
 
God’s Perspective or View of Our Lives
A few weeks ago I was able to get together with some of my friends that I grew up with. We grew up in the same neighborhood {most of us from elementary to high school} We haven’t gotten together for a long time so it was a good time together talking and laughing. After high school we all went in our own direction. All of us have taken our own path in life. All of us have struggled one way or another. Some have struggled with divorce and remarriage, others with infertility problems, a couple with health problems, others with unemployment and most recently one of our friends was diagnosed with a horrible lifelong disease called Rheumatoid Arthritis. As we were sitting there talking and asking this friend how she was doing she went on to tell us of her struggles of living in Texas, hundreds of miles away from family, having three kids and a husband and being in so much pain she couldn’t even get out of bed for 3 months. Listening to her talk made me feel so sad, I wished I could have reached out and taken away the pain she goes through everyday. She is an amazing mom and a wonderful friend and to see her suffering with this awful disease make me feel really sad, and also made me realize how precious life is. She talked about her baby and how sweet she has been to her and what an easy baby she was blessed to have. She talked about her 5 and 8 year old and how much they helped her during this hard time. She talked about her sweet husband that would get up in the middle of the night to carry her to the bathroom because she her hands and feet hurt. Then she said this, “I have learned so much though this and if the reason for this disease was to be taught this then I will never regret it” then she went on to tell us that she has come to know Heavenly Father as her real “Daddy” and how much her perspective of her life has changed, and that life really is all about Perspective and Gods Plan for us. When she said that word “perspective” I felt really strongly that that was the word that I needed to base my Relief Society lesson around.
The word perspective means: View of things in their true relationship or importance: an extensive or distant view.
 
So when you change the word Perspective to View and add God’s View to it, it means: God’s view of things in our lives in their true relationship or importance, an extensive or distant view of our lives.
 
We all go though hard things in our lives, big or small, and during that time is when we seek the Lord for guidance or direction. We want to see his view of our lives and try to understand why we are going though this hard thing.
 
Elder Hales said that “The Lord helps us solve or problems with his guidance, he won’t solve it but he will guide us.”
 
I remember growing up and hearing my mom on the phone say to her sister “Have you turned it over to the Lord?” Or when I was having a hard day she would say, “Have you turned it over to the Lord?” I remember telling her that I would and then kind of blowing it off, thinking it was something I would figure out, that it wasn’t a big enough problem to go to God with!. I felt the spirit as a child and knew what it was like to have Gods guidance in my life, but until I got married and had a family of my own and experienced harder trials and daily struggles to get through, did I truly understand what my mom was trying to tell me. This past year I have been trying really hard to turn my days over to the Lord for guidance and direction. I have always known and learned that he cares about everything we do weather big or small. It’s interesting how much more peaceful I feel about the things going on in my days when I have asked God to guide my day and help me to do the things that are most important and not stress the small stuff.
 
Lot’s of times in my life I can look back and see when God gave me a quick glimpes or views of my life. Whether it was that life would work out for the better if we moved, or that our finances were going to be ok, or that something I was dealing with was all going to work out. Everyday he gives me peace that life is good and things are going as they should. I am grateful for those perspectives that God has given me!
 
Elder James B. Martino said…
 
“When we face our challenges, we must seek greater help from God. Even the Savior of us all found a need to pray “more earnestly” as He was in the Garden of Gethsemane. We can learn to gain great faith if we do this. We must remember that often the answers from our Heavenly Father do not remove the trial from us, but instead He helps strengthen us as we pass through the experience. As He did for the followers of Alma, the Lord can “ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs.” In our trials, let us not become bitter or uncommitted, but let us follow the Savior’s example of becoming more earnest, more sincere, and more faithful.” James B. Martino, “All Things Work Together for Good,” Ensign, May 2010, 101-3
 
I think a lot of times in our lives, like I told you I have done in the past ,we think we can figure things out on our own. Maybe we even think God won’t be able to help me or it’s too small of a deal to go to him for. But we need to remember God has the power to help us with everything big or small.
 
We need to be honest with God about our perspective and go to him and tell him “I’m scared, or I don’t think I can do it”. He really does care and he will give us a glimpse of his view of our lives and help us see things, endure things and do things we never thought possible.
 
I think one perspective in our lives that we need to set straight is the perspective we have of ourselves.  We all have a perspective of ourselves…right? We get our perspective of ourselves from who?
 
Our family, friends, church, Satan, TV {Good or bad we get it from all over} None of these perspective of ourselves matter. Gods Perspective is the only one that matters.
 
Elder LeGrand Richards said: “God bless you to realize where you came from and the great privileges that are yours. If the veil were rolled back and you could just see one glimpse of G.od’s great eternal plan concerning you and who you are, it would not be hard for you to love Him, keep His commandments, and live to be worthy of every blessing that He has had for you since before the foundations of the world were laid” (“Patriarchal Blessings,” New Era, Feb. 1977, p. 7).
 
I think sometimes we forget when we are singing, “I am a child of God” that we really are children of God” Do we really believe that? I think sometimes I forget that, and I think I am here alone trying to make it through my days all by myself.
 
Elder Wirthlin said..
 
“The way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life. Seek for the Eternal. You may feel singled out when adversity enters your life. You shake your head and wonder, “Why me?”
 
But the dial on the wheel of sorrow eventually points to each of us. At one time or another, everyone must experience sorrow. No one is exempt.
 
I love the scriptures because they show examples of great and noble men and women such as Abraham, Sarah, Enoch, Moses, Joseph, Emma, and Brigham. Each of them experienced adversity and sorrow that tried, fortified, and refined their characters.
 
Learning to endure times of disappointment, suffering, and sorrow is part of our on-the-job training. These experiences while often difficult to bear at the time, are precisely the kinds of experiences that stretch our understanding, build our character, and increase our compassion for others.
 
Because Jesus Christ suffered greatly, He understands our suffering. He understands our grief. We experience hard things so that we too may have increased compassion and understanding for others.
 
Remember the sublime words of the Savior to the Prophet Joseph Smith when he suffered with his companions in the smothering darkness of Liberty Jail:
 
“My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
 
“And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.”1
 
With that eternal perspective, Joseph took comfort from these words, and so can we. Sometimes the very moments that seem to overcome us with suffering are those that will ultimately suffer us to overcome.” Joseph B. Wirthlin, “Come What May, and Love It,” Liahona, Nov 2008, 26-28
 
How can we receive this view, this perspective from Him in our times of need, or just in our daily lives? 
  • Prayer
 I know when my husband lost his job last year that my only perspective was very narrow and all I could think about was how were we ever going to make it. But then we both prayed and felt that this was for the better and that other things would open up and life would be fine. And guess what? It happened. God didn’t tell us what was going to open up, he didn’t give us this huge vision of our life, he just helped us feel peaceful about life and where we were and what we were doing. 
  
President Hinckely said…
 
“Be prayerful. Don’t be ashamed to get on your knees, morning and night, and thank the Lord for His blessings. Pray for His inspiration and direction and help in all that you undertake to do in righteousness” (President Hinckley, Cape Town, South Africa, 20 Feb. 1998).
 
  • Scripture Study
I know when I read the scriptures that it helps me feel more peaceful and have a better understanding of life. I also feel the spirit and when needed receive personal revelation.
 
  • Personal Revelation
We can receive personal revelation anytime God sees fit that we need it. If we are living righteously and doing all we can to figure things out.
  • Patriarchal Blessings – This gives us a great view of our lives and the direction we can go if we live worthily
  • Going to the Temple
In days of ancient prophets God used to call them up to the tops of high mountains and give them direction and perspectives or views of their lives or the lives of their people. When we go hiking and we are way up high we can look down and see so much. The temples today are for that same reason. They are the modern day mountains of the Lord. A place where we can go and receive personal revelation from god and a place where he can give us a greater view/perspective of our lives.
 
There are times in our lives where our perspective might not be the same as our spouses and we are just going on faith and trust. This reminds me of Sariah when Lehi has sent their sons to go get the plates and they are taking a long time. She is scared and mad at Lehi for sending them and calls him a visionary man. 
  
In 1st Nephi 5:2-7
2 For she had supposed that we had perished in the wilderness; and she also had complained against my father, telling him that he was a visionary man; saying: Behold thou hast led us forth from the land of our inheritance, and my sons are no more, and we perish in the wilderness.
 
Have you ever felt like Sariah and you just loose all faith and hope and you start complaining? I felt that way when my husband lost his job and we had nothing and we were perishing in the dessert. J It really wasn’t that bad, but I felt like kicking and screaming and complaining that we even moved away from family!
 
3 And after this manner of language had my mother complained against my father.
4 And it had come to pass that my father spake unto her, saying: I know that I am a visionary man; for if I had not seen the things of God in a vision I should not have known the goodness of God, but had tarried at Jerusalem, and had perished with my brethren.
5 But behold, I have obtained a land of promise, in the which things I do rejoice; yea, and I know that the Lord will deliver my sons out of the hands of Laban, and bring them down again unto us in the wilderness.
6 And after this manner of language did my father, Lehi, comfort my mother, Sariah, concerning us, while we journeyed in the wilderness up to the land of Jerusalem, to obtain the record of the Jews.
7 And when we had returned to the tent of my father, behold their joy was full, and my mother was comforted.
So he had God’s View of their life. Even a distant view of what was to come.
 
Elder Joseph Fielding Smith says
“The nearer man approaches perfection, the clearer are his views, and the greater his enjoyments, till he has overcome the evils of his life and lost every desire for sin” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1938], p. 51).
 
My mom is a writer and an addictions counselor and is currently a missionary serving as an addiction recovery missionary with my Step Dad. She recently wrote a post on her blog that I loved about God’s View. Go here to read it, it is called “Vision, A view Through God’s Eyes.”
I bear testimony to you that God cares about each and everyone of us and that he loves us and wants us to be happy. I know that if we have faith and are trying to live righteously he will help us out with our lives whether we have big problems or small or even no problems at all. He cares about us and will give us his view {at least a glimpes} of us and our lives if we pray for it and ask in faith.
And just to remember a great quote by President Hinckley
Things Work Out
Things Work Out
“It isn’t as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don’t worry. I say that to myself every morning. It will all work out. If you do your best, it will all work out. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us. … If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers”
~ President Hinckley

Comments

  1. Kendra

    I just ran across your blog last week and I loved the few things that I had time to read so I added you to my reader. I’m so glad I did. Your post this morning was, simply put, an answer to my prayers.

    This morning while praying, I was filled with so much despondency and I was asking to be strengthened in my daily life. Later, I opened up my google reader and your post was the first one listed. I really really appreciated the insight and uplifting message that you shared. The quotes you shared had incredible power in them as well. I was amazed by the message in the one from Elder Richards. I hope the sisters in your ward felt the same hope and renewed commitment to living a faithful life after hearing you teach it. Thank you for sharing.

    I’m going to go read your mom’s post now too.

    Shauna

  2. Wow, this is great…BTW…my pillow tie arrived today! Yay! It looks awesome! Now I have to save it a few weeks until my husband’s birthday! 🙂 Thank you so much!

  3. Wish I could have heard it…I bet you rocked it. Thanks for posting it…I’d say having perspective helps me more than almost ANYTHING when I am struggling with something. So thanks for the gems!

  4. Thanks for reposting this. It was a beautiful lesson and it was evident you were guided by the spirit when you were giving it. I also thought Elder Richards words were so powerful and insightful. Oh and your mom is awesome, lucky girl 🙂

  5. Beautiful lesson. I definitely have been able to feel these same things through the things that we are going through. I too am grateful for a loving kind Heavenly Father that comforts us in our hard times. You are awesome!