General Update
From Paul:
Cycle 5 (Continued)
Each day presents to us a series of choices, and blessings
intermingled with challenges. We understand that we have choices as they relate
to both blessings and challenges.
In 1843, The Prophet Joseph Smith recorded a revelation in
which we are taught:
“For all who will have a blessing at my hands
shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing, and the
conditions thereof, as were instituted from before the foundation of the world.”
What that means to me is that if I desire a blessing from
God, I need to study out the relationship with what I am desiring with the law
associated with obtaining that blessing.
Doctrine
& Covenants 130:20-21
“There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before
the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are
predicated—
And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is
by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.”
If we want something that God has promised, we need to be obedient
to the law linked to the blessing. We have a choice.
Our choice is about where we focus our attention. An
essential aspect of this understanding that the timing of these blessings is on
God’s timetable, not ours. We see many of these promises as sure, but our
lenses as to the timing are intentionally darkened. That is where faith and
trust come in.
Doris and I are living in this time of promises being assured
and timing being somewhat nebulous. We have an idea that treatment is outlined for
24 cycles, but when the complete healing occurs for Doris is not known.
As for challenges, we have a choice as well. If we look at
challenges as if somebody is conspiring against us, we need to choose a
different point of view.
Again, I turn to the revelations of God to the Prophet
Joseph Smith. In 1839, when he was confined in the jail at Liberty, Missouri, Joseph
was taught that our trials have a purpose. After listing some overwhelming
challenges through which Joseph had passed, or which were foreshadowed for him
to pass through, he and we are given to understand that “…all these things
shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.” Furthermore, he was told,
“Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less;
therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you
forever and ever.”
God knows the beginning and the end of all we are experiencing.
Sometimes that is phrased as “God knows the end from the beginning”. I interpret that as an indication that the
end is known by God and the beginning and intervening experiences are tailored
to match what we need to learn and experience. This life is full of challenges,
or better said, growth opportunities. We are here to exercise our faith through
those challenges in the assurance that the purposes of God in His presiding
over them will be fulfilled. It is true that we usually do not know those
purposes while we are going through the teaching opportunities that He has
crafted specifically for us. Nobody has identical experiences. We are all in
need of the specific curriculum God has in store for us. It is up to us to
choose to view these experiences in the light of God’s purposes as they unfold
to our view and accept with patience and faith that we may need to wait to
understand and receive the benefit of these experiences.
From Doris:
To Live in the Moment
I have written before about the importance of not focusing
on the past or the future but on making the most of each day. I no longer focus
on one day at a time. Cancer and its side effects are training me to live
moment by moment.
I can’t predict when I will be hit by side effects. I
can feel well one moment and be bent over in pain the next. I may have energy
to walk a mile one day and be barely able to walk a quarter mile the next.
Because I am a person who loves to have a plan for each day,
this new normal is frustrating. I am hoping that in time I will be able to
predict and manage my side effects. I do not want to spend the next nineteen
months of my life not knowing from moment to moment how I will feel.
In the meantime, I go forward in faith. I seek for the
blessings I need through prayer. This week I asked for the strength and
capacity to attend the temple and sacrament meeting. I was able to do
both. God is good to me.
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