Consider the following scriptures:
Matt. 11:28-30: Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Mosiah 3:19: For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.
And that quote (that I can’t find right now) that says how if you turn your life over to God, He can make much more out of it than you can.
Anyway, I know that the atonement of Jesus Christ is to a) help us overcome physical death and b) help us overcome spiritual death so that we may return to our Heavenly Father. The wonderful thing about the atonement is that we don’t have to do it all ourselves. Because none of us can. He has done for us what we can’t do for ourselves.
My question lies in what do you do when you believe that, but you still feel like you’re alone and you don’t know how to cast your burdens at His feet and take His yoke upon you and partake of the wonderful peace he offers and really feel like you don’t have to do it all yourself? How do you truly use the atonement to overcome the natural man and really become a saint?
So if anyone can shed some light on the subject, I would be much appreciative.
P.S. If you have voted on my poll about where I should go on vacation this year, please tell me why you voted the way you did. I’m curious to know your reasonings.
Friday, January 11, 2008
I have a gospel question…
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6 comments:
part one: I don't know. I'm still learning. I have found that I can figure out how to do it when it does become too much for me to bear, but staggering around with all that weight isn't very comfortable, even if I am able to do it. I know this sounds totally sunday schoolish, but set aside some serious quiet time and really pray. Not the "bless my family" stuff (which has a time and a place), but have a real conversation about why you are struggling, and how it's effecting you, and that you just need to feel loved. And be willing to let what is bothering you go. That is usually the hard part. Ask for help to control your thoughts (because it usually comes down to being a mental excercise) and be ready to be taught. That's how it is for me, anyway. It's kind of like repentance. Everyone has something that works for them. It's not a check list, it is a change that has to overcome you.
part 2: I chose China because I decided that if you go there I am coming with you. And I know that I shouldn't but it's not every year I have a cousin living there, so who knows when the opportunity will come again?
It's hard to turn everything over to God. It's in our nature to worry. So I can't really answer that question. I guess you just have to convince yourself that in some situations there just really isn't anything you can do about it, that you aren't already doing, or have done, and you just need to let it be. Like with Abigail's surgery...there wasn't anything I could do about it, so I left it to him. Sure I was still worried about my little girl, but I knew there wasn't much I could do about it, so I just tried to help her, and make sure she was comfortable, but that's about all I could do. Even in the waiting room, I knew I couldn't do anything to help her, so I let my mind do other things...Christmas cards, reading, watching some TV. Eventually time passed and we were able to see her. I've learned that worrying about things doesn't help. It's been a long, hard lesson, and I'm still learning it, but sometimes you really do need to just let go.
I thought I had left a comment about why I voted the way I did. But here it is again. I voted for British Isles. Number one, because I want to go there real bad and it would be so cool. And number two reason, by process of elimination. China is going to be overrun with the Olympics. And there is too much unrest in the Middle East, so Egypt and Jerusalem are out too. Though all three places would be so cool. I would love to go to all of them.
I think there are a lot of different things to balance, and finding the right balance for oneself is part of our test. We have to let go, but we must also be active participants. We have got to be in the world, but not of it. And I think everybody has a slightly different balance, I know I haven't found mine yet.
As for your vacay, I voted how I would choose for myself. I've never really left the country except for a couple of dips north and south, which I don't reallly count. Because of this, I would choose to go the British Isles first of the three. I know the language, if not the slang, but it would be different than anywhere in America. I think I could get around on my own if I wanted and not be tied to what is on some tour. But that is just me.
I voted China because there is too much craziness in the Middle East and because my sister just got back from there and LOVED it. The British Isles would be cool too though.
I didn't vote but I think you should come to isreal and egypt with alison and i.
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