Hello everyone! My apologies for the long hiatus. All of a sudden, my life took off in a very busy way – trying to balance work, schooling and preparation for the future while maintaining a solid relationship with my girlfriend is quite taxing! However, busyness is not a sufficient excuse. Whenever the weekly time to write my blog would come, I would say to myself, “I’m not feeling inspired – I think I should rest instead”. That happened for 3 weeks in a row, until finally I decided I needed to put my foot down!
And that’s when I learned something.
Inspiration for writing my blog posts often does not come until I’m in the very act of writing them! The same was true for my emails on my mission – I often did not know what to say until, wham, I said it! Inspiration often comes in the very act of doing the thing you need inspiration for. Thus, the lazy excuse of not writing because I don’t feel inspired is as foolish as it is incomplete; that inspiration will never come until I buckle down and commit myself to my task!
This principle is a trap the adversary can ensnare us in. It is a spiral staircase tumbling endlessly down, gradually but indefinitely. It is the “faithless” way to live life. It is a life without power from God.
I say this because, as the Book of Mormon teaches, “if ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me” (Moroni 7:33). No faith, no power. I had no faith when it came to writing my blog post because I put in no effort to doing it – thus, I had no inspirational power.
And the same can be true for every facet of our lives.
No faith to improve your basketball shot? No power to improve it.
No faith to become a better parent? No power to become.
No faith to strengthen your relationship with God through prayer? No power to strengthen.
Action is the key to faith. It is, in a sense, acting “into the unknown” (just finished watching the making of Frozen 2 on Disney + by the way – that’s a must watch). Somehow, acting into the unknown enables us access to the grace of God, which grace is power. Often, that power will not come until we act.
Will a car move until you push down on the pedal? No!
Will a jet ski steer unless you are giving it gas? No!
Will a ball start rolling before you push it? No!
As opposed to the laws of physics, a little action of faith causes a BIGGER reaction of grace.
This principle can and should become a lifestyle to us.
When it comes to grace, I am always drawn to this specific verse in the Book of Mormon. This is when Alma organizes his people into a church. He ordains teachers and priests to teach the word of God. The difference between these priests and the wicked priests whom he has just left is this key principle:
“And the priests were not to depend upon the people for their support; but for their labor they were to receive the grace of God, that they might wax strong in the Spirit, having the knowledge of God, that they might teach with power and authority from God.”
(Mosiah 18:26)
What a lifestyle of faith! These priests were to sacrifice of their time – freely and willingly – to teach the word of God to the people. Rather than accept payment for that deed, they were to rely faithfully on the grace of God to give them strength and the means to move on. I am sure that grace was manifested in a variety of ways: through physical blessings such as extra money to pay their bills here and there, mental blessings of increased knowledge and capacity, emotional blessings of happiness and fulfillment, and spiritual blessings of Christlike attributes and love for God and their fellowman. Their faithful lifestyle provided them with power beyond what their efforts could have afforded them alone.
Yesterday, I drove out to West Valley to pick up my girlfriend and spend the day with her. That 40-minute drive is one I’ve made many, many times this summer, but it’s one that I’ve grown to love. I decided that to be more productive during that drive, I would listen to a BYU devotional, since they’re typically around 40-minutes long. Those 40-minute drives have become contemplative and spiritual experiences for me, experiences that I really need in this time of my life. During my drive yesterday, I listened to Lynn G. Robbins’ talk “Be 100 Percent Responsible”, a wonderful talk I’ve heard many times (click HERE for the link).
In his talk, he quoted Edward R. Murrow, who said:
“Difficulty is the excuse history never accepts”
I know that in my life, the leading inhibitor keeping me from exercising faith and thus earning God’s grace is difficulty. It’s just so hard to have faith! I feel that belief is not nearly as hard as acting on belief; it’s very easy to believe in God but following Him is an entirely different story.
Difficulty should not hold us back, because when we do that difficult thing, we are almost immediately awarded with Godly power that elevates us beyond that difficult thing. There is great truth to this life-changing quote from the movie We Bought a Zoo:
“You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.”
Those “20 seconds”, or whatever short amount of time is required, is nothing compared to the power that comes when we act in faith. Yes, the road is dark in the beginning, but it always, ALWAYS, gets brighter. A lifestyle of faith is one in which difficulty occurs often but is quickly defeated by heavenly power. And oh, how we in this world need that lifestyle of faith! I certainly need it for what is coming ahead in my adult life. Let us all seek after it, working through those difficult 20 seconds to find greater strength and power than we ever had before.
Love you all heaps!
Adam Simpson
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