Day #4: "Never Stopping, Ever Searching"
The story of Jarius and the woman who touched Christ's garment is told in this chapter. After reading this story in the scriptures, I have come to learn that my trials, especially my one with my church situation, is a way of testing my faith to grow closer to the Lord. You know how the saying goes, "It always gets worse before it gets better?" That was the case for both Jarius and the woman. Jarius learned his daughter was dead before she was able to rise again, and the woman had a disease for 12 years before she was finally healed. I believe my situation may be that I am pushed to the brink of temptaion and heartache before I finally find a ward that I love. Who knows whether it's a family ward or a singles ward? Only the Lord. What do I need to do? Go back to church. Stay for all of the meetings. Go for my faith and my love of God before I go for the interaction. If I go for the true purpose and the right reason, everything else will follow and fall into place. The author quoted Joseph Smith saying:
"Whatever God requires is right, no matter what it is, although we may not see the reason thereof till long after the events transpire."
I love that quote! Everything TRULY does happen for a reason and it truly does happen in the Lord's, time. The invitation for this chapter is to think of a time in my life when I had to search for the Savior to "find strength beyond my own". I believe that I am in the midst of that right now. I am growing my faith and understanding. I promise the Lord that I shall be "Never Stopping, Ever Searching."
Day #5: "Who Is This Jesus?"
After reading about Jesus and the Samaritan woman in the scriptures and reading Emily Freeman's explanation and interpretation of the story, I have come to realize I am like the Samaritan woman, in that I believe that I am not good enough to have a relationship with the Lord because of who I am and my knowledge of him. I have been taught about Christ and I have been told about Christ and His teachings and His life, but I really truly don't know who He is. Up until this time in my life, I believed that I wasn't worthy enough to have a relationship with him, and it has been preventing me from going to church and learning and understanding more about him. It has also prevented me from looking for Christ, as part of day #4. All of this has been making me suffer spiritually, among many other things. The invitation for this day is to find a simple learning moment daily until the end of this challenge. My challenge to myself? To do this everyday for the rest of my life. I need to be constant and diligent and I will get to the relationship I would like to have with the Lord and feel better about myself. Who knows if that's a few months from now or a few years from now, but with my constant diligence I will be able to get there someday.
Sorry for my boring entries lately, they will get better. At the moment I just feel the need to blog about this right now in my life.
Love you all!
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2 comments:
Who says they're boring? :) We all need this kind of thing, whether we know it or not.
Oh my goodness, Shelby, these entries are not boring. They are truly inspiring. I love the story of the woman who reaches out and touches Christ's robe. It is a story that I often think about. She had so much faith. I often wish that I had that much faith.
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