Recognizing and seeing the hand of God in your life can be a daunting endeavor. Especially on regular routine days that seem nothing out of the ordinary. Recently I read a talk given to CES students in Texas by Sister Bednar. In it she speaks of the ability to look for and feel the hand of the Lord working in your daily life. I loved her counsel so much!
She used a song to express 4 steps that we can use to grow closer to our Father and Heaven and our Savior. Thus being able to recognize and understand when he is at work in our lives. 1. We must have ears to hear the word of the Lord, 2. And eyes to see His plan, 3. Feet to follow in His path, 4. And hearts to understand. She goes on to explain each one very briefly and I feel like it is well worth the time to read it so that we can learn to recognize and feel Him close.
There have been many times in my life that I have felt the Lord close and recognized his hand almost immediately and other times when I felt so far away and like he wasn’t there at all for me.
In the talk, Sister Bednar offers a quote by Henry B. Eyring that is very helpful to all of us when we can’t feel him there. He said, ““I bless you that every day, if you will ask in prayer to be shown where the hand of God intervened in your life that day, I bless you that you will see that. It will be made manifest to you. That you will see that He is leading and guiding and lifting you, and that He knows you”.
Isn’t that such a beautiful promise and blessing from an apostle of the Lord? I am definitely going to start this practice in my own evening prayers. And maybe morning prayers as well so that I will come to know exactly what it feels like when it is happening. The Lord wants to talk to us and he wants us to hear and feel him!
I remember one sacred time when I knelt to say my evening prayer. I was exhausted, but I had asked specific questions and then quickly ended my prayer and jumped into bed. I had the distinct impression saying “why did you get up so quickly? I had things to say to you”. I kind of brushed it off as my own internal dialogue and snuggled deeper into my blankets. Then it came again more forcefully, “Get back on your knees and listen to what I have to say”. And so I did. And what happened next was one of the sweetest experiences that I have ever had with feeling my Savior so close to me, answering my questions and giving me the counsel that I needed at that particular time. But it definitely took an open heart and mind to allow for this experience to happen for me. And I promise that if you follow the counsel from Sister Bednar’s talk you can have similar and equally touching experiences in your life. And even on the daily.
One last quote to consider, Elder Bednar said “It is one thing to know that Jesus Christ came to earth to die for us—that is fundamental and foundational to the doctrine of Christ. But we also need to appreciate that the Lord desires, through His Atonement and by the power of the Holy Ghost, to live in us—not only to direct us but also to empower us”
Today, I encourage you to have ears to hear the word of the Lord, and eyes to see His plan, feet to follow in His path, and hearts to understand.
XO Wendy
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