“None of these desirable small and simple things will lift us to great things unless they are practiced consistently and continuously" (Dallin H Oaks)
We all know the basic primary answers the we give when we are faced with a question at church... Pray, Read, Go to church, Repent, Serve others, Go to the temple… But why do these things matter? I was studying all of these things separately trying to figure out what the root reason is that we do them and I found that ultimately, all of these things help us to have the holy ghost with us, to become more like the Savior Jesus Christ, and to build a relationship with our Heavenly Father. These things help us to grow. They help us to come closer to those who love us the most. They equip us to be able to handle life, serve others, and make a difference. They change us. So if they are so good and beneficial then why are they ultimately so hard to do? Why is it so hard to roll out of bed and say your prayers? Or read your scriptures before doing homework? Or go to the temple? I have a silly example so just bear with me for a second…. The other day my roommate and I were watching a romantic comedy and it was way sad! Sooo I am dating this boy who lives in France, long story, but anyways needless to say long distance is hard and watching a movie with two people who are in the same place and happy and in love does not make it easier. So we are watching the movie and I am starting to become increasingly more aware of the fact that I am sitting on a couch in a basement suite in Utah while he is asleep in France because of the eight hour time difference. I know it’s silly but it was hard. So then my brain starts thinking of all these complicated and elaborate ways to remedy the problem. I could just go to the airport and fly to france. I could invent a teleportation device. Literally so many options. And then quietly and calmly the thought comes to my mind, “well have you thought about studying your scriptures?” It almost seems tooo easy. Reading my scriptures isn’t going to teleport him. So I sat in my sadness for a while and then the thought came again. Once I was humble enough to act on it I got up and grabbed my journal and my scriptures and my little PMG which was conveniently open to the page titled “patience” and then I read these words “patience is the ability to do God’s will and accept his timing” the spirit rushed over me. I legit started to cry. Not because I was sad but because of the comfort that that phrase brought me. And then I studied the scriptures that go along with it… and I was filled. There is this idea that I learned in one of my classes. Usually it’s something that teenagers do BUT I am pretty sure that I do it too it’s called self-handicapping. The idea is that we sometimes deliberately do things or don’t do things in order to have an excuse for failure. Interestingly boys usually say it’s because of lack of effort, and girls usually say it’s because of emotions. So how does this tie in to everything? I feel like a lot of the time I know that if I just get on my knees and pray I will feel better. I know that if I read my scriptures in the morning then I will have the spirit with me throughout the day. I know that if I go to the temple then I will be blessed in other parts of my life. I know that those small and simple things that elder oaks talks about are so important. But, then, despite knowing, despite experiencing it over and over and over again I still fail to do it because of how simple it seems to be. Essentially I am self-handicapping myself. The fear of failure is overcoming the faith in God’s plan. But God never ever wanted us to be afraid of failure. That’s what this life is about. He planned for it and when we are doing those small and simple things we are equipped to get back up when failure happens, because it ultimately does. So yes, we need to be doing those small and simple things like praying, reading, and going to church, but don’t forget that another one of those small and simple things is repentance. I think it’s really interesting that in order to physically grow we need physical nourishment. I mean, have you seen how much a teenage boy eats while going through a growth spurt? But on top of this have you seen how clumsy they are when they are growing? They bump into everything. They don’t realize the change that is happening with their bodies because to them it doesn’t feel like the dramatic change that it is. To them it feels like small and consistent change. This life is a spiritual growth spurt. Though it might not feel like we are changing and growing a lot we are. On top of all that, don’t worry, if it makes you feel better I am clumsy too during my spiritual growth spurt. I stub my toes and get bruised and bumped and scrapped but my mom always told me that that is just a sign of growth. So if during a physical growth spurt we need physical nourishment then what do we need during a spiritual one? I’ll give you a hint...it brings us back to those primary answers…. I saw this thing on facebook the other day that said: "Science says we need: water, air, food, and light. Christ is: the living water, the breath of life, the bread of life, and the light of the world." For our spiritual growth spurt we need Christ. We need him always. We need him in all things. We need him consistently and continuously. We need him because he makes all the difference. We need him because He is what changes us. Just like how you can’t give a teenager a peanut butter and jelly sandwich expect them to be good for the whole week we need constant spiritual nourishment for our growth. Sometimes it might seem like we are stubbing our toes a LOT. It might seem like we are barely growing but remember when your great aunt comes to visit after last seeing you when you were 5...she is going to say “oh look how you’ve grown, the last time I saw you you were just a this tall” Elder Oaks said “though each of these practices may seem to be small and simple, over time they result in powerful spiritual uplift and growth” But all of that uplift and growth ultimately comes from our savior Jesus Christ. It comes from those small and simple things that we do every single day in order to be in tune with the spirit. It comes as we stub our toes, get bruises and bumps and scrapes. It comes as we clumsily grow through the spiritual nourishment. Now, I don’t know about you but I feel like I am going through my toddler growth spurt not my teenager one. I am still figuring out how to eat, getting food everywhere, and falling all the time. I am sometimes forgetting the importance of constant nourishment and throwing a tantrum because I don’t really know what I need. So if you are like me and feel the tantrum coming on...remember that you probably just need food, whether that’s physical or spiritual. We are all on this journey together. Bumping into things and falling is a natural part of growing. So, keep growing. Take a nap. Eat a snack. Make sure you are spiritually filled. You've got this. |