I Will Do Mine Own Work in Mine Own Due Time

A new video put out by the church tells the story of a young man who lost his faith in Christ and his process to regaining it. Of note in the video is the part in which the man is telling of his fall from faith, and how he thought he could rationally prove away the existence of God because of all of the evil and the mistakes in this world. He’s not alone in that argument; there are many who claim that an all-powerful, all-loving God, and they point to the much pain and suffering in our world as proof. Wouldn’t an all-powerful God have the power to change those evils? Wouldn’t an all-loving God feel obligated to help? This logical train of thought can also be extended to talk about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There are those who point to flaws in the church’s past decisions, citing things like polygamy and former policy towards blacks and the priesthood as mistakes that the church has made. If the church seems to have made a mistake, how can it be run by God? Wouldn’t God know of the bad mistakes ahead of time? Why wouldn’t He warn the leaders of the church before they made a bad decision?

                I for one feel that those questions are valid and do deserve an answer, but they reflect a misunderstanding of who God is and how He operates. The simple truth for why God doesn’t operate is contained in a telling series of scriptures in 2^nd Nephi 27. In these verses the Lord declares:

“For I will bring [my work] forth in mine own due time; for I will show unto the children of men that I am able to do mine own work… For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith.”

(2 Nephi 27:21, 23, emphasis added)

                In these verses the Lord specifies that there are two conditions that must be fulfilled before He steps into a situation; the intervention must be in line with his purpose, and it must follow man’s faith. 

a)      The first condition is contained in the words “in mine own due time.” This means that God waits to act until a specific time condition has been met, which by implication means that God has a purpose and a reasoning for acting every time He does, and a reason for why in certain circumstances He chooses not to act.

b)      The second condition is clearly shown by the phrase “I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith.” What is interesting to note is how forceful this statement becomes when it’s put in the negative. The Lord could have said “I work among the children of men according to their faith”, which in modern terms means “I’ll act when people have faith”. Contrast that somewhat ambiguous statement to the modern rendition of what He really said: “I will not do anything until people have faith.” The Lord is making it very obvious that he works with and through men. Men who, by definition, are flawed and imperfect.

When we understand these two conditions, suddenly the explanation of these puzzling questions about blacks and the priesthood or polygamy make much more sense. The Lord says himself that He will only operate through the faith of men: no faith; no blessing. Likewise, in looking through the history of gospel dispensations we see that the Lord has pulled his ordained servants off the earth to avoid condemning rebellious groups of people with knowledge of the gospel. No obedience (an outward expression of faith); no knowledge (a blessing).  

                The story of Acts chapter 10 provides an instructive glimpse into the way the Lord operates. The Savior had always planned for the gospel to go forth to everyone. 600 years before Peter even knew what the gospel was, Christ had declared to Nephi that “all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile”. (2 Nephi 26:33) In his parting words to the apostles, Christ commanded them to “go ye therefore, and teach all nations.” (Matthew 28:20, emphasis added) God’s purpose was clear; He wanted everyone to hear about the good news of Christ. Yet somehow the church was still operating under a preach-only-to-the-Jews policy. So what had happened?

                First off, we could claim that Peter was uninspired, like many claim about Joseph Smith and the polygamy question. In Peter’s case, I would hesitate to say that he was simply being disobedient. Look at the facts in the story; once he received his revelation, he acted faithfully and immediately. I’m pretty sure he would’ve done so had he received that revelation at any point in the timeline of events.

                No, much more likely is the fact that the Lord didn’t have the faith necessary to implement his plan. The people weren’t ready for this new step. Preaching to gentiles went against their culture background, and with still fledging testimonies and incomplete conversions, such a move would probably have driven them out of the church. Look at what happened after Peter made this declaration; immediately “they of the circumcision contended with him.” This move causes a rift in the church among the more orthodox Jews-turned-Christians who couldn’t seem to give up on their traditions. These people weren’t ready for God’s purpose, and so God had to wait until they had sufficient faith before giving them their next commandments.

                This story proves the point made by Jeffery R. Holland when he said:

“Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it. So should we. And when you see imperfection, remember that the limitation is not in the divinity of the work.” (Lord, I Believe, April 2013)

So why is there evil in the world? Because people choose evil over good sometimes. Why does it appear that the church occasionally makes mistakes? Because it’s run by people who have flaws. Yet none of this disproves the divinity of God; He is perfect and His plan is just. But because he honors agency, he’ll wait until we have faith before He acts. To all who struggle with those tough questions like the man in the video, I would advise you to hold on. God is real, and if you put your faith in Him, you’ll see a real-life manifestation of the divine principle you seek to understand.

Without Knowing Beforehand

I think at root I am strategist. I love nothing more than walking into a situation where I should be disadvantaged, yet end up succeeding because of my plans and strategies. I like to try to maximize the resources that I’ve been given to achieve something that I shouldn’t be able to do. This way of thinking involves always having a plan, and making sure that all of my actions are deliberate; that I know what I’m doing, how to do it, and that I have a good reason for why I’m doing so.

                Consequently, there are few things that can throw me out of my comfort zone like acting without any sort of vision or plan. That’s not easy to do. As we read in the New Testament this week in my religion class, we talked about the example of Phillip, who does exactly that. I found his story and the insights we discussed together very inspiring to help me in those times in which I don’t hold all the answers.

                In the story of Acts 8, Phillip is preaching to the people of Samaria, and having great success. He’s baptizing and I’m sure enjoying himself. In the midst of this awesome experience, he is called to go into the desert, with absolutely no details of what he is supposed to do or why the Lord would take him out of the place in which he is doing a lot of good. At this point, all of his plans have been ruined, and if I were Phillip, I would probably be a little upset by the command.

                But Phillip is a much better man than I, because the next verse begins with five very powerful words:

                                “And he arose and went”

                This story demonstrates is that most of the time, the Lord doesn’t give us all of the details. Doing so would inhibit our agency; think of how much Phillip must have learned by trying to figure out what he was supposed to do down in the desert. It was also a great test of his faith because the Lord didn’t reveal to him why he was being sent down there. But Phillip didn’t complain and didn’t delay. He immediately did as the Lord had asked and was able to see success by helping a very influential Ethiopian get baptized.

                In our lives there will be times when you and I will not know all of the details, and the plans that we make will be irrelevant. We will be asked to do something without knowing exactly how to do so or why we ought to. The story of Phillip stands as a beacon to us in those times to remember that when we put out trust in the Lord things will inevitably turn out alright as we patiently follow him. The Lord called Phillip to the middle of the desert, and it just happened to be the place where he could do the most good in baptizing the Ethiopian. When he calls you and I into our own spiritual “deserts”, the result will be just as wonderful. So keep your faith in Him and trust that His commands have a purpose.         

"What Shall I Do?"

               I love the account in Acts chapter 2 of the sermon preached by Peter. The account has numerous passages that I find inspiring, such as the miracle of the speaking in several languages at the same time Peter’s bold declaration of truth, and the wonderful result of seeing nearly three thousand converts in one day. All of these accounts spark my faith and help me to understand that miracles are indeed possible if we put enough faith in the Lord, as Peter did.

                But perhaps the most touching part of this chapter is the response of the multitude. The account states that after hearing Peter’s message, they were “pricked in their heart” and then asked the following question:

“What shall we do?”

                When I read this verse, I get another call to humility. As a missionary, I used to study this chapter and search for a way I could teach like Peter and invoke such a response for my investigators. I knew that if I found someone who would ask that simple question—“what should I do?”—I had found someone who was ready for the blessings of the gospel. But much more important than whether or not I can get someone else to ask God for direction is whether or not I can find the necessary humility to plead for advice in such a simple way. When one asks Heavenly Father for such simple direction, it is a huge demonstration of faith and trust in His plan. It is a sign of humility, a sign that we genuinely want to do what He asks, and thus implies we are becoming converted. It’s a question we all ought to be asking on a daily basis, because the answer holds all of the secrets for our lasting peace, happiness, and eternal salvation. I’m determined to try better to have the humble attitude of these men and regularly ask “what shall I do?” from my Heavenly Father. I encourage all of you to do the same.

Is Happiness a Choice?

                I’ve thought a lot about the question “is happiness a choice?” a lot over the course of this semester, and I’ve come to the conclusion that happiness isn’t necessarily a choice, in a sense that one can look at the window and say: “Wow, today is a miserable day, but I’m going to choose to be happy” and have that work. I’ve tried multiple times throughout the semester to do so, but it hasn’t really worked out in making me suddenly happy with no further thought or effort. Through my own personal experience, I realize much more clearly that outside influences do play a HUGE role in happiness; environmental and biological factors are very real and do very much influence the way that we feel in our daily lives.

                That being said, I do feel like there are certain factors that remain under our control, independent of outside factors. My personal interpretation of the concept of agency as taught in the scriptures requires a certain realm of inner control. But that inner control isn’t just a switch that toggles between “happy” and “sad”. If such a switch did exists, we would rightfully call ourselves mental midgets whenever we felt a little blue, and we would say those with depression are simply choosing to feel sad. No, such a switch doesn’t exist. But our minds do have the power to take on certain attitudes and actions which I feel can bring joy in most situations. Having an attitude of gratitude is one such conscience choice that can make a huge difference in our mindset. Accepting and applying the Atonement of Jesus Christ is another. Willingly serving others is also a great way to minimize pessimistic thinking. To be blunt, I believe that living the gospel of Jesus Christ has the most power to make one happy.

Yet even the gospel doesn’t directly equate to happiness. There is no guarantee that doing all those things will automatically result in pure joy, or an instant increase of emotions. It’s not a guaranteed formula that gospel living means a perfect life free of sorrow. It’s simply the best formula I know that can get you within striking distance. I think that’s all the control anyone ever has: you can sure get pretty dang close to happiness through exercising your agency, but in the end, happiness isn’t a choice, because there is that outside 1% that isn’t under your control. Without the proper use of agency, there is a very slim chance that you will be happy. With the proper use of agency, you’re much more likely to be happy, but it’s still no guarantee. So keep striving to do the right, and if sometimes you feel disappointed because happiness seems out of reach, don’t give up; the gospel method works, but it never promises not to give you the ups and downs of life. Experiencing both the good and the bad is just another beautiful aspect of what it means to be alive.

Remote Team Meeting

                The Globetrotters team used the program Asana to remotely coordinate our work together. It was quite an experience. Asana is a program that is designed for group projects like ours, and we used the free trial to create accounts for everyone on our team. Once inside the program, we could chat, assign and accept tasks, create deadlines, and see how everyone’s progress was doing.

                One of the things that was nice about Asana was how frequently it reminded me about the project. I was getting email blasts daily, reminding me that I was expected to complete part of my project within the next day. After so many reminders though, it was more stressful and annoying than helpful.

                Overall, I learned a lot about collaboration without face-to-face encounters from this meeting. I learned that it is really important to be clear in those types of communications, because emails to send clarification questions and answers sure add up quickly. If I was able to express my point simply in one email, then everyone would be spared constant messages back and forth. I also learned the importance of being timely—at one point our team got a little behind our project deadlines and it made things pretty stressful. At one point, I was assigned to do data analysis on data that wasn’t collected yet, and I was stressing out because I felt pressure to perform on time, yet there was no way to get my piece done without the prior work. All in all, I feel that working remotely, although more convenient, isn’t as effective as meeting face to face.

Shout-out

This is a great post about how to find satisfaction in small and simple improvements. I found it really inspiring. Check it out here:

https://ajnevarez.wordpress.com/2014/11/29/life-on-the-margin/

Living Deliberately

                Today I had an intramural basketball game. I’ll try to keep a long story short, but we won, largely due to the effort of one of my teammates in playing terrific defense and shutting down our opponent’s best player. After the game, I was thinking about this friend of mine, and the lifestyle that he embodies. You see, he’s not especially tall, not especially strong, and doesn’t have the build of someone who looks like they should be an incredible athlete. To be blunt, he drew the short straw in the genetic lottery for athletic genes.

                But the thing about this friend of mine is how well he has managed his best resource: his willpower. At some point in his life, he decided that he wanted to be good at sports, and so he put in the time and effort to get into good shape. And on the court, he knows he’s not the most talented, nor the most athletic, yet he makes himself absolutely invaluable because he will work harder than anyone else on the court. He leverages his athleticism to the maximum and runs circles around everyone else, winning crucial hustle-plays, and as proved tonight, making him a crucial cog on a winning team. He’s a terror to play against and the best ally one could ever ask for in the sporting arena.

               

                I want to be him. I love the way in which this friend has decided what he wanted, and done it. His formula is that simple; decide and then do, but yet the way in which he executes his plans is masterful. It gives me hope to watch him flying around the basketball court. For me, he embodies my hope that the mind really can win over the protests of a lazy body, that deliberate change is possible, and that I can achieve my goals.

                After reflecting on the show that Ethan put on tonight, I’ve been changed. There is a higher level of living. It is possible to pivot course in a second, deliberately decide to move in a different life direction and be forever changed. How can you and I settle for anything less than greatness, when we know that such greatness is inside of us? I’m going out to live deliberately, starting now. That’s where true joy and true inner satisfaction is.  

Moderation

This week I’ve learned the value of moderation. Before school started, I was practically dying of boredom. At that time, I wanted nothing more than to have homework to do, because at least it was something to break the monotony of long summer days. Then school started, and all of the sudden my wish seemed rash. Suddenly life was all about trying to minimize the amount of homework I was doing, and trying to keep from over scheduling so that I had that elusive idea we call “free time”. Well, this past week school was out, and I traveled with my family down to St. George to enjoy the sunshine and a homework-free environment. And suddenly the boredom was back.

                This experience of constantly waffling back and forth between two opinions has got me thinking. It would be so easy to pin my happiness on the accomplishment of one or the other objectives. I could easily say “once school ends, then I’ll be happy because I’ll have time to do what I want to do.” I could also say the opposite once the summertime blues sinks in. I believe the key to happiness is not constantly dreaming about the future,  but rather enjoying the moment by handling all things in moderation. Vacation activities are awesome, but only if they are deserved because of hard work. I have a mission friend who once said: "Doing nothing is the hardest work of all, because one can never stop to rest. Without work, rest and relaxation have no meaning.” I love his train of thought. Only through moderation can we truly enjoy life to it’s fullest. I’m determined to continue to work hard when it’s time to work, and to play hard when it comes time to play. 

ToDoist

I thought that there were many outstanding presentations during our class conference the last two weeks. Most of them focused on how to help me as I entered the business environment in the future, but one that I found could be super applicable right now was the presentation about ToDoist. O One thing that I have been working on recently is trying to budget my time more effectively. I schedule myself around my assigned homework and work schedule, and at the current moment, I simply use the “Notes” feature of my computer to put all of my activities on a digital sticky note on my desktop. Its simplicity has been working for me so far, but I still feel like if I was a little more organized, I could achieve much more of my potential. Too often I catch myself wasting time with activities that don’t bring happiness or help me be more productive, when I could be either doing some happiness-building or productive activity. I think I’m going to try out ToDoist and see if it can help take my life organization to a higher plane. 

Elevator Pitches

As a general rule, I hate talking about myself. I’ve seen firsthand too many examples of people craving attention and the bragging, showing off, trash-talking, and talking oneself up that always accompanies it. I find it childish to see other people doing so, and I hate it when I find myself bragging. For whatever reason, I just never have really had a very strong desire for recognition. When I do well, I’m comfortable enough to know in my heart that I did well, and it doesn’t really matter to me who celebrates alongside me.  

In my self-centered worldview, I consider this aversion to bragging a positive thing, but when it comes down to interview time, this trait of mine really stabs me in the back. I feel awkward and uncomfortable when I am sitting in front of someone trying to play up all of my strengths. Because it’s so unnatural for me, I often end up saying a lot of dumb things in front of the very people I’m trying to impress.

As I was listening to the class presentation about elevator speeches, I was really intrigued. I've obviously heard references to elevator pitches before, but I was never really given an in-depth discussion about how useful they can be. What I heard in class has got me thinking about how useful such a pitch could be in helping me overcome my interviewing weakness. I’m determined to make sure that I plan ahead and prepare an elevator pitch so that when circumstances force me to turn the limelight on myself, I won’t be caught off guard and will be able to deliver key information about myself in a non-threatening, non-bragging way.

Perspective

There is something about injuries that seems to provoke reflection and thought. Perhaps it is the view of our own vulnerability, or perhaps it is the constant re-living of the moment and the “what if’s” that inevitably get asked. Regardless, a near-injury experience has been the lesson that highlighted my education this week.

The circumstances weren’t too surprising: I was playing a late night intramural flag football game, in some very cold weather. My team was losing really badly to a team of superior athletes. Pride injured, tempers were starting to get as sour as the weather. Against this backdrop, I was lined up on the defensive side of the ball, poised to rush the opposing quarterback. Despite the fact that the score was somewhere around 60-0, our opponents ran a trick play, in which they sent a player running sideways across the field before the play started, and then threw the ball to him to start the play, giving him the massive advantage of already being at full-speed before anyone else moved. Something about the play infuriated me: why were they still trying so hard when the game had already been decided at least 20 minutes ago? It wasn’t really a rational reason to be upset, but I was determined to show these guys that they couldn’t just run all over us at will. I was going to shut down the play.

So I took off after the quarterback. There was no blockers between him and me, just a footrace to determine a simple question: could I catch him before he threw the ball downfield? I tore across the field as fast as my feet would allow, but he wasn’t slow either, and we were close to the sideline when I was finally approaching him. His eyes were up-field, scanning to see where he should throw the ball, and I was behind him, completely out of sight. As I neared, I started to see him tense up, and bring his arm behind him, ready to throw. I was well too far behind him to simply grab the flags, but my rage propelled me onwards, hoping against hope that somehow I could salvage the play. In a last-ditch effort, I decided to dive straight for him. I threw myself forward, body completely parallel to the ground, hands outstretched and desperately reaching for the elusive flag hanging behind the quarterback

If you remember from the last general conference, Elder Christofferson made a passing reference to gravity, saying that “Resenting the law of gravity won’t keep a person from falling.” Well, I learned firsthand the truthfulness of that statement. Desperately wishing gravity would make an exception doesn’t change all that much either. My hands came about half a foot short of those flags, the ball released cleanly from the quarterback’s arm, and I found myself plummeting to the ground to land face-first. I skinned my knees, my hands, and only barely avoided marring up my face.

Three days later, I can still can’t walk without a little limp as a direct result of that play. I’ve had to forego playing basketball, my favorite activity, and I got absolutely slaughtered in an important tennis match due to a lack of mobility. The thing that keeps striking me as I reflect on the incident is the how utterly wasteful my actions were. The game was decided by that point, and I was only playing out of anger and a wounded pride. I had allowed myself to be offended over the fact that the other team was still trying hard—something that was never intended to be offensive—and as such I suffered some pretty bad consequences.

I learned that we should always put things into perspective. What is one play at the end of a football game worth? In hindsight, it certainly wasn’t worth my tennis match, the pain, and the opportunity to play other sports. Had the injury been worse, the costs would’ve piled up as doctors got involved. All of that cost was completely avoidable had I just kept a level head and not made such a reckless attempt. Going forward, I’m going to try to be better at keeping all things in perspective. One play at the end of a blow-out is never worth a serious injury.  

Online Interview

Today I had the experience of getting to do my first online interview. It was an entirely new concept for me, and one that I think I could have handled better. It was easy to justify under-preparation by the thought that it was just a Skype interview, and therefore there was less that I needed to prepare. But after the interview I realized how many advantages exist in an online setting that don't exist when doing a face-to-face interview.

 For example, I could have easily printed out my “selling points”—the things I wanted the interviewer to clearly understand about myself—and pasted them behind the computer so that I could easily and naturally be reminded of them as I answered questions. I should have had a copy of my own resume in front of me that I could refer to, as well as a way to take notes. With an online interview, the opportunities to use visual cues, reminders and other helpful materials are nearly limitless, yet I capitalized on none of those. I will make sure to remedy that when I have a real interview next time.

The biggest lesson I learned from this experience was that the scriptural axiom is still true: “If ye are prepared ye shall not fear”. A little extra preparation for an online interview can go a long ways.

The Power of Networking

           Last week, opportunity start knocking on my door. I started the week very content at my job working with Dining Services. But in less than 24 hours, I had two different friends tell me about great career-advancing job opportunities in their organizations. They were both sweet opportunities that would further my career, increase my income, and potentially decrease the number of hours I was working, all while providing a job that would be more fun that what I was currently doing. I was flattered by the offers and applied to both, obtaining the first one.

The really incredible thing though, was how absolutely under-qualified I felt for both jobs. I think had I seen a job posting for either job, I probably would have passed them by and assumed that there was no way the employers would hire me. Having an inside contact to pass my resume and recommend me to the supervisor made all the difference. I think that my contact’s name was brought up no less than 50 times in my interview for the job that I eventually obtained—it was obvious that his influence made a huge difference in my application process.

While I obviously understood the theory of networking before this experience, I had never seen it so dramatic in my own life. It was incredible how many doors opened up for me because of my contacts. My takeaway from this experience is two-fold. First, I definitely want to do a better job of expanding my circle of contacts. But just as important to me is the new understanding of how much of a help I can be for others. I want to do a lot better of job of giving opportunities to others, in a kind of “pay it forward” way to return the favor that I was given. I’m determined to find ways to open doors for others and help them achieve their dreams, because I’ve seen firsthand how beneficial the help of another can be. 

The Recharge

            This week I learned the importance of recharging physically and spiritually. I have been trying to live a very active lifestyle. One of my least favorite things to do is to be in my apartment and consequently, I find every excuse to be out and about, doing things. I even came up with a way to track the way I was spending my time, and I’ve been working hard to minimize the time I spend doing non-productive things.

            I’ve been working especially hard in an effort to get ahead on my life. One day I was walking out of class when I was hit by a solid wall of fatigue. I decided to use my class break to take a twenty-minute nap and have a really meaningful scripture study. When I did, I was so much happier and much more effective for the rest of the day. I still checked off as many things on my to-do list as I had planned, but I felt happier and much more energetic the rest of the day.

            From this experience I’ve learned that it’s not only what you’re doing that is important, but how you do it also really counts. It’s so important to make sure that we are in our top forms, because then we can be more productive and efficient. I’m resolved to remember to watch my own energy levels and make sure that I’m always rested and spiritually ready to go so that I can always perform at my best.

Expectations on Perfection

While it may not be the most original idea to post on some kind of social media outlet about the LDS General Conference, I’m going to continue the trend today. I feel that this week I learned a pretty profound lesson about life that deserves to be shared.

                My lesson came as President Uchtdorf spoke. He took the theme of his talk from the line in the Bible in which the Lord tells his apostles that one of them will betray Him. They ask the question: “Lord, is it I?” President Uchtdorf then crafted a very inspired message about looking inwards for blame, rather than pointing fingers around us.

                This bothered me a little. While the cleanliness level in my room attests to the fact that I am no perfectionist, I constantly struggle because I set extremely high expectations for myself. I tend to think that I am a much better athlete, scholar, missionary, roommate, and person than I actually am, and I get frustrated when my performance never turns out as well as I anticipated. After 21 years of periodically feeling like I’ve never achieved my potential, I occasionally wonder if my expectations are too high for myself—am I justified in thinking that I really can be that good?

                Then President Uchtdorf said something that I loved. He said that if we are blind to our mistakes, we are also blind to our divine potential. Conversely, if we keep our sights on the unlimited potential that has been promised to us, then we should be seeing our weaknesses. To me, this means that my thoughts are justified. If we understand the true extent of what is possible for us to achieve, then we ought to be discontent with mediocrity. When we see what we can become, then we should not be complacent with where we are; we ought to continue rising and climbing and becoming better and better on a daily basis.

                Now I’m not advocating for perfectionism—that can end up with a lot of broken hopes and can often do more harm than good—but I am advocating for all of us to continue on our individual journey to become better. The heights of complete self-mastery might not be summited today or tomorrow, but we are doing something wrong if we are not walking uphill.  Every day ought to be a new step for us in the right direction. Inevitably, we will slip and fall, but that’s okay as long as we continue to keep making another attempt. I’m determined to continue to climb upward and search for more within myself as I try to become the man I imagine that I can be, because I have an idea of what perfection is, and that perfection eventually is attainable.