Personal Revelation - Supporting One Another

One of the truest indications of Heavenly Father’s love is the gift of personal revelation that comes in answer to earnest prayer. Just as we yearn for connection with our children here on earth, and desire their success so much that we’d be willing to lay ourselves down for them, so Father in Heaven yearns for us, and is anxious to do everything He can to help us achieve that success. Just as we cannot remove the bumps from our babies’ roads, or endure pain in their stead, so He cannot eliminate struggle from our lives, or give us the answers to our every problem. This entire mortal experience would be for naught, if we were told what to do every step of the way. But every fervent prayer is heard and answered by Father, in the time and manner that is best for us. What is fascinating to me is the sometime tendency of those of us in the church to doubt the personal revelation and answers to prayer our sisters and brothers receive from Father. Rather than second-guessing our spiritual siblings’ relationships with Father, how much better would our earthly experiences be if we supported one another in our unique and personal journeys home?

The Lord has given clear instructions through His disciples on how to ask for and receive guidance from Him. He expects us to perform our due diligence, to reason things out in our minds, study the relevant issues, and make every effort to solve our problems on our own a la the Brother of Jared, but at the end of this process, He is over all. The vastness of what He knows that we don’t, including the end from the beginning, is astounding. He is aware of every aspect of the challenges we face. To those challenges He adds this one: Do what I ask you, go where I lead you. As strange and scary as it seems child, follow me, even to places where not one of your sisters in a hundred would venture; this is your path. I, not they know and love you completely, and I, not they, am your guide.

The lives of each one of us is filled with miracles, whether we see it or not, and His infinite grace hovers over us directing more than we realize. Our faith will grow if we follow His promptings and our lives expand in richness and wonders as we step out in that faith. We can learn so much from the example of Lehi and the way he led his family. Think of it-- Lehi and Sariah were raising a family alongside their peers of the day. They were financially well-off, comfortable in their home, perhaps prominent in their community, when the Lord spoke in a dream to this faithful prophet, instructing him to forsake the physical security he had enjoyed and venture out into the wilderness with few resources and no idea where they would go, how they would survive the trip, or when they’d arrive at their destination. Mocked by his own sons for being a “visionary man,” threatened and derided by his neighbors when he warned them of the coming destruction, we can safely surmise that had he shared his travel plans with these neighbors he would have been roundly criticized, much as Noah was as he built his ark. And yet, it was the Lord’s will that he depart with nothing but his family, bidding his sons return twice on a couple of highly unlikely and dangerous errands.

The promise Heavenly Father extended to Father Lehi as He explained that food would be made edible without fire is also extended to each of us: "And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led. (1 Nephi 17:13 emphasis added)

Note that Heavenly Father didn’t promise to explain to others where or why He will lead us, nor did He promise that the paths He leads us in will be the most likely, reasonable, or logical. His promise is that we will know it is by Him that we are led, not that we will know He is leading others, or that others will know His hand guides us. No one can know the state of another’s relationship with Father, or the veracity of what she claims to have received through personal revelation, with the narrow exception of those few individuals whose authority extends that far. Satan, ever looking for an opening to insert doubt and weaken our resolve, uses this brilliantly to his evil ends.

We are a people who prize intelligence, personal responsibility, and reason. When a fellow-saint undertakes a course of action that is unusual or not what we would do, it is devastatingly easy to react with skepticism and doubt rather than support and encouragement. We might believe that she must not have thought it through, or he must be mistaking his own desires for the Lord’s will. We may go so far as to share these judgments with others or even note to the individual himself that a choice to have another child, quit a job, or move suddenly is rash, misguided, even irresponsible, in spite of his assuring us that he has fasted and prayed and is sure of the Lord’s response.

I can say with some chagrin that I have been on both sides of this phenomenon. I recall as a young adult “saying some nays” in a chorus of people second-guessing (inappropriately so) the choices of a friend. More recently (and definitely more frequently than I am comfortable with) I have been the one criticized, even chastised when I followed promptings from the Lord. In fact very recently I made a sudden cross-country move with my five young children that mirrors Lehi’s trek in many ways. The situation was urgent and frightening. The danger to my family was real, and the circumstances definitely out of the ordinary. Father spoke clearly, unmistakable to my heart and mind and those of my dear husband at the same time, though we were several yards apart and could not confer with one another in the moment. The thought and feelings came through too plainly to ignore, however startling they were (and believe me, they were!): put the children in the van and go, Jamie, NOW! A few hours later, with just a few hundred dollars, I kissed my sweet love goodbye to travel 1500 or so miles to a new, at the time undetermined, home. (I am currently counting the moments until he is able to join us).

Oh yes, it felt as though my world was collapsing around my running feet, as though we were pursued mile after mile. And yet, I did not collapse. Along the way I felt a steadiness and resolve that I assure you was not born of some superhuman strength I possess. Rather, I was comforted with each roll of the tires that it was by Him I was led, that as, er, bold (not “nuts”) as the journey was, as much as it would not have been my first choice, or even my own idea, and as surely as I would probably NOT recommend it to a friend, it was, indeed, Father’s will and His path for my family.

Having reached our new state of residence, I faced the task of finding a house. I poured all my energy into researching the area and the market, looking at one home after another, speaking to realtors and property management companies, and more importantly, seeking Father’s guidance. I knew that my family had no hope of success without Him, and that I was entirely dependant on Him for our very breath. (Mosiah 2:21) And yet, more than one concerned individual in my life was more than a little disapproving. One who I considered a friend was irritated enough with my actions to be angry with me. He felt, among other things, that I was not going about the great house hunt in the proper way. At the time I had been in town one week. It was a Sunday and I, along with family and friends, was having a special fast that Father would lead me to the best home for my family at this time, and that I would be clear enough to receive and understand the directions when they came. Feeling my friend’s frustration as it threatened to overshadow the tender and sacred elements of my fast and shout out the still small voice, I struggled to explain my testimony that personal revelation is more than a theoretical exercise or mere fodder for inspiring Sunday School stories, and that I felt my very survival and that of my babies depended on my following Heavenly Father’s guidance.

His frustration mounted and he interrupted me, chastising, “I understand that, Jamie, but you also are on a timeline….” Now, on the face of it this statement says, look, I get that Heavenly Father will give you direction, but it’s more important for you to do what I think makes sense and follow my direction. If this were the sentiment being expressed, I believe we can all see how easily it may be refuted. There is no timeline more pressing than the Lord’s and anyone who receives clear guidance from the God of the universe and ignores it in favor of guidance from a human being (however smart or well-intentioned that being) is a nut case. However, I do not believe that this returned-missionary, temple-wedded, active-in-his-ward, father actually believes it best to ignore promptings from the Spirit, rather I think that while he acknowledges that Heavenly Father can and at times does give guidance to certain individuals, he also believed that I was not the beneficiary of any such divine communication, and that I was foolishly dilly-dallying around, following what I mistakenly believed to be the Lord’s will when I should have just grabbed the first apartment that became available.

I am truly saddened by the strain his judgments have placed on a decade plus friendship, but I knew in the moment that I absolutely cannot afford to ignore what Heavenly Father has told me and is telling me in order to placate anybody. I was rewarded for my fast (and for holding fast) by signing a lease for what is the ideal home for my wounded family right now. This happened, by the way, on the Lord’s timeline--within two weeks of arriving in this great state, allowing me to move my family into this home in just under three weeks. The love and support my children and I have felt from members of our new ward, the way my Kindergartener is thriving in his new school with his new friends, and the security and sense of belonging we already feel in this neighborhood testify to me that His wisdom brought us here. He was our light in the wilderness, and it was by Him we were led.


Continued at: More On Helping Each Other Obey Promptings