Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings

The more I try to put my life in accordance with God's will, the more I realize how much he is asking of us. I used to think that we just needed to obey the commandments and ask God about important decisions. But I'm learning that it's not that simple.

It is good set and pursue righteous goals, yet James warns us that planning without leaving room for God's will is arrogant and sinful.

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. - James 4:13-17 (ESV)

It's easy to see how this applies to big decisions such as pursuing a profession, choosing a spouse, and deciding where to live: make sure God approves of your decision. And in my opinion, that's easy. But Alma takes it a step further.

Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day. - Alma 37:37

Alma teaches us that we need to ask God about everything we do. Obviously it can get carried away. A common example I hear in church is that God doesn't are about which socks we wear. But what if one day it did matter. Would we be willing and prepared to listen?

I am reminded of a trip  from Spanish Fork, UT to Rexburg, ID. After loading everything into our car, I returned to the house one last time. I was either retrieving an item I had forgotten or making sure that all doors and windows were locked. While in the basement I had a strong feeling that I needed to bring a rope and tarp that I saw on the floor. I deliberated for a short them then concluded, "I don't need it for shelter. We're not camping. If the car breaks down then we still have the car. I see no reason to bring it."

Somewhere near the Utah-Idaho border we saw dark storm clouds ahead. It was obvious that we were soon going to drive through significant downpours. I saw a pickup truck stopped on the side of the road. The passengers were out trying to secure the load. I immediately knew that the rope and tarp was for them, not me.

When I pray in the morning I try to review and counsel with the Lord. After preparing and studying and before working I often pray to make sure I'm still on track. Sometimes everything is okay. But sometimes He wants changes. A couple of weeks ago He asked me to write a letter to someone before working. This morning I knew that I needed to plan on speaking with someone today. I don't know why I need to speak with them, nor why it needs to be today, but I've learned not to question. Counseling with the Lord consistently leads to seemingly insignificant changes to my plans, and I'm always glad I listened.

I am learning that the Lord is willing to play a very active role in our life. If we counsel with Him in all our doings then he really will direct our paths.

Degrading Conversation

Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath - James 1:19

If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. - James 3:2

It is difficult to endure the company of someone who habitually complains and degrades. But when someone is respectful, uplifting, and disciplined, we look forward to everything they say.

Inspiring Change

I spent a lot of time this weekend thinking about and talking about change. Change has been a huge part of my life so it always surprises me when I meet people that have no desire to change anything about anything, especially themselves. They have no desire for progress and perhaps can't even envision it.

Lets use Revelation 3:15-16 as a metaphor for discussing change. Those who are hot are pursuing change towards a good goal, those who are cold are pursuing change towards a bad goal, and the lukewarm don't want to change at all.

In my experience, it is easier to take someone who is cold and make them hot than it is to help someone who is lukewarm to become hot. Do you agree? Why is that the case?

I can't think of a single situation where I successfully helped a lukewarm person pursue positive change, which perhaps means I've only helped people that had a desire for change in the first place. So how can you instill a desire for change into someone? I wonder if only God can. Some people seem to be born with it, or developed desire while being raised, while adults who obtained the desire point to an experience that opened their eyes, the type of experience that only God can give and we can only pray for.

What are your thoughts? Is my vocabulary proper? Does the metaphor make sense? What other scriptures or experience can we learn from?

This makes me wonder in physics if it's easier to create or redirect momentum.

To be seen, or not to be seen

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. - Matthew 5:16

Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. - Matthew 6:1

How do you reconcile those two statements? They seem to say "Do good so that people can see that you are good and then glorify God, but don't do good for the purpose of being seen."

The Peace and Hope of Christ

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. - John 14:27

Righteousness brings with it a promise of blessings such as joy, peace, and hope. These are mostly comfort blessings; they help life feel good and make us expect that life will continue to be good. But that train of thought is flawed. The peace which Christ offers us is not that everything will be okay in this life but that everything will perfect in the next life.

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. - 1 Corinthians 15:19 

Our hope in Christ is for eternal life, for becoming a joint-heir with Christ, and for a glorious resurrection.