(no subject)
Goodness. I know that I sound like a broken record here and that you probably all already do this, but if you do not read your scriptures every day, you are really missing out. It is unbelievable how my life has changed in this past year and how it continues to change each and every day that I read God's word. My day just does not go right until I have read, which is why I often times find myself reading as soon as I wake up in the morning.
I have been having a really hard time with my family lately. It seems as if their spirituality goes through phases. For awhile, it seemed as if they were finally starting to open up, and then, in these past couple weeks, we are right back to where we started. I am not so bold as to say that there is no hope for them, because I know that there is, but this past weekend was really disheartening. Accordingly, I reached this part in my scriptures on Friday,
2 Nephi 26:7, "O the pain, and the anguish of my soul for the loss of the slain of my people! For I, Nephi, have seen it, and it well nigh consumeth me before the presence of the Lord; but I must cry unto my God: Thy ways are just."
To those of my friends who have tried to convince me that "God feels no pain, because we, as humans, can have no influence on him" .. I say that that is one of the most ridiculous things I have honestly ever heard. It is so hard to sit and watch what the world has decided that God is, some stagnant and unfeeling being that simply watches us from some great throne in the clouds. I want them to know God ... who He really is, but they always say that they are satisfied where they are and that they have all the answers that they need. How someone cannot find peace in Heavenly Father but can still find peace in this world is beyond me. It is so hard to sit back and watch my family go through struggles that they should never have to bear. I have only witnessed such a small portion of the pain that Heavenly Father must feel, and, as Nephi, 'it well nigh consumeth me'!
The love of the Lord and of our Heavenly Father are so profound that I can find no words to express how much they feel for us. And I know that they watch over us day and night .. that they feel pain when we feel pain. But, that also, we have been given free agency, and therefore, there is only so much that they can do. How hard that must be! I cannot imagine it in the least. I know that Heavenly Father has provided us every possible way to get back to Him that He possibly can. It is now simply our turn to find them. He has already chosen us. Now, we have to choose Him. And, you can't force anyone into it. As much as sometimes I wish that I could, I know that it is not the way. My family has to choose Heavenly Father. I cannot choose Him for them.
I have been having a really hard time with my family lately. It seems as if their spirituality goes through phases. For awhile, it seemed as if they were finally starting to open up, and then, in these past couple weeks, we are right back to where we started. I am not so bold as to say that there is no hope for them, because I know that there is, but this past weekend was really disheartening. Accordingly, I reached this part in my scriptures on Friday,
2 Nephi 26:7, "O the pain, and the anguish of my soul for the loss of the slain of my people! For I, Nephi, have seen it, and it well nigh consumeth me before the presence of the Lord; but I must cry unto my God: Thy ways are just."
To those of my friends who have tried to convince me that "God feels no pain, because we, as humans, can have no influence on him" .. I say that that is one of the most ridiculous things I have honestly ever heard. It is so hard to sit and watch what the world has decided that God is, some stagnant and unfeeling being that simply watches us from some great throne in the clouds. I want them to know God ... who He really is, but they always say that they are satisfied where they are and that they have all the answers that they need. How someone cannot find peace in Heavenly Father but can still find peace in this world is beyond me. It is so hard to sit back and watch my family go through struggles that they should never have to bear. I have only witnessed such a small portion of the pain that Heavenly Father must feel, and, as Nephi, 'it well nigh consumeth me'!
The love of the Lord and of our Heavenly Father are so profound that I can find no words to express how much they feel for us. And I know that they watch over us day and night .. that they feel pain when we feel pain. But, that also, we have been given free agency, and therefore, there is only so much that they can do. How hard that must be! I cannot imagine it in the least. I know that Heavenly Father has provided us every possible way to get back to Him that He possibly can. It is now simply our turn to find them. He has already chosen us. Now, we have to choose Him. And, you can't force anyone into it. As much as sometimes I wish that I could, I know that it is not the way. My family has to choose Heavenly Father. I cannot choose Him for them.