Seek Not to Counsel the Lord

 Jacob 4:10  Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works.

It is so tempting to try to tell the Lord what blessings we need, or how to fix our problems.   If He would just do things our way, everything would work out fine.  But Jacob tells us otherwise.  Don't tell Him what to do, but let Him tell US what to do.

Elder Richard G. Scott said this:  "Sometimes you may feel to complain to the Lord about a challenge that has come into your life through no fault of your own. . .

God knows what is best for us. Although we may not understand why we experience some things now, in His timetable we will know and be grateful."

Also Elder Scott:  "Submitting 'cheerfully and with patience' to all His will lets you learn precious if difficult lessons and eternal truths that will yield blessings."

N. Eldon Tanner: "The word of the Lord is so clear to us, and his laws so plainly designed for our happiness, that it is difficult to understand why some people feel their own judgment is superior, and disregard God’s laws and bring upon themselves misery and unhappiness by so doing." 

I think we all know that telling the Lord what to do is folly, and yet sometimes we feel we can see so clearly that we just wonder why the Lord can't see things as we do.  I guess it's the natural man.  It's especially hard for those people who need to control everything to let the Lord be in control.  But we need to do as Elder Scott quoted and submit "cheerfully and with patience" and watch for the blessings to come.

 

In This Thing We Do Rejoice

  Jacob 4:2-3   But whatsoever things we write upon anything save it be upon plates must perish and vanish away; but we can write a few words upon plates, which will give our children, and also our beloved brethren, a small degree of knowledge concerning us, or concerning their fathers—

Now in this thing we do rejoice; and we labor diligently to engraven these words upon plates, hoping that our beloved brethren and our children will receive them with thankful hearts, and look upon them that they may learn with joy and not with sorrow, neither with contempt, concerning their first parents.

It was with much difficulty that the Book of Mormon prophets kept the records, engraving them upon metal plates.  That wouldn't exactly contribute to a flow of consciousness.  But they felt it was important and were willing to pay the price.  Why?  "For, for this intent have we written these things, that they may know that we knew of Christ, and we had a hope of his glory many hundred years before his coming . . ."  They wanted to testify of Christ to their children and all those who came after.  They hoped that their descendents would receive their words with thankful hearts and not think of their first parents with sorrow or contempt, but with joy.

What kind of a legacy are we leaving?  When our children and great-grandchildren look at our lives after we are gone, what will they have from us to judge us by?  There may be a few mementos passed on to them, maybe some stories of our lives, but unless we find a way to leave our testimonies, the rest is only fool's gold.  I hope my children can receive my words with "thankful hearts" and look upon them with joy.  For I know of Christ and have a hope of His glory many thousand years after His coming.  I know that my Redeemer lives.  

And I rejoice that it is so easy to pass on that testimony.  I don't have to beat gold into flat plates, or carve and engraven letters onto it.  I just have to take a paper and pen, or a laptop and record my thoughts and feelings.  A little time; very little effort.  So easy.  In this thing I do rejoice.

 

Feast Upon His Love

Jacob 3:2   O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his ^alove; for ye may, if your ^bminds are ^cfirm, forever.

There are several key elements to this scripture.  

• First, he tells us that he's talking to the pure in heart.  So we need to be obedient and faithful to have pure hearts.  Our desires must be to Him.  The term "pure in heart" is often used synonymously with Zion.  But also consider this scripture in D&C 97:16, referring to the temple:    Yea, and my presence shall be there, for I will come into it, and all the pure in heart that shall come into it shall see God.  So there is a promise that if we are pure in heart, we may come to the temple and see God.
• Lift up your heads - We are sons and daughters of God.  To devalue a child of God is to criticize the work of His hands.  We certainly should be humble, but to downgrade and criticize ourselves is as if we are saying that the Lord creates inferior sons and daughters!  This is a sin that we need to repent of.
• Receive the pleasing word of God - I've spoken in another post about our responsibility to RECEIVE the gifts God gives us, including His pleasing word.  This requires more work than simply seeing or acknowledging His word.  We must examine and accept and incorporate His teachings into our lives in an active way.
•  Feast upon His love -  The Lord radiates love.  It pours out from Him naturally, but sometimes we refuse it or only allow ourselves to notice it and acknowledge it.  Just like feasting on the scriptures, feasting on His love requires our attention and our time and devotion.  Our hearts must yearn for Him and open to Him.  How do we do this?  Part of it is gratitude, opening our eyes to see the wonders He gives to us every day.  When we realize even a portion of the blessings that we tend to take for granted, our hearts rejoice with gratitude and reverence for Him.
• Our minds must be firm - We must be dedicated and unmovable, steadfast, strong in our convictions.
• We are promised that if we do this, we will have the opportunity to feast upon His love forever. What a joyous time that will be, to be in His presence, surrounded by our family and dear friends!  Forever, worlds without end.

How Much Better?

Jacob 3:6-8
Therefore, how much better are you than they, in the sight of your great Creator?

I don't know about you, but I have a real struggle with self-righteousness and judging others.  When I see people who are really messing up their lives, especially people I don't know, I wonder why they don't shape up and do what's right.

But Jacob is telling us here that the Lamanites are judged as righteous for those things that they do worthily.  He tells us that the husbands love their wives and the wives love their husbands and they both love their children and the Lord blesses them for that.  And their evil acts are the result of traditions handed down by their fathers.

It gives me great peace to know that my children who aren't doing everything I would like them to be doing are being blessed for those things they do as good people.  They love their children and they lead honest, hard-working lives.  Those are important things, and the Lord is blessing them for that.

Just as the Lord gives the Lamanites some slack because they were raised with inherited false traditions, it's important for me to cease being judgmental about people who weren't raised with the many blessings and advantages I've had.  Elder Uchtdorf gave his masterful talk in April of this year in which he said:
"We simply have to stop judging others and replace judgmental thoughts and feelings with a heart full of love for God and His children. God is our Father. We are His children. We are all brothers and sisters."  This was the talk where he told us to "Stop it!"

When I think about the many advantages and blessings I've had in my life, of the generations of righteous ancestors, of my faithful and worthy parents who set such a good example for me, of my education and the many spiritual experiences I've had, of a righteous and supportive and hard-work husband, of dear friends who taught me and set good examples for me, I'm so humbled!  Spiritually, I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth, and have been raised in a spiritual penthouse!  How cruel of me to look down on those without my advantages and judge them.  President Uchtdorf's words really apply to me.  Stop it!

He says: 

When our hearts are filled with the love of God, something good and pure happens to us. We “keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world.”

The more we allow the love of God to govern our minds and emotions—the more we allow our love for our Heavenly Father to swell within our hearts—the easier it is to love others with the pure love of Christ. As we open our hearts to the glowing dawn of the love of God, the darkness and cold of animosity and envy will eventually fade.

That is what I want for myself.  That is what I pray for.