Similarly, if we ask in faith, the Lord will reveal to us our own personal mission. When we feel the Lord withholding what we want, perhaps the best question to ask Him is “what do You want me to do or learn?” When we truly ask and seek to do the Lord’s will, He will answer. The Lord will tell us what He would have us do in small moments and on a daily basis.
Emma Smith’s steadfast faith through trial and trouble inspires me. In July 1830, she was blessed by the Lord with a revelation He gave to her husband, the Prophet Joseph Smith. Before this beautiful revelation was given, 26-year-old Emma had been uprooted from one place to another, endured poverty, daily faced an uncertain future, and given birth to a son who died hours later. Emma endured a mob’s threats during and after her baptism, and on the night after her baptism, her husband Joseph was arrested for causing a disturbance. Upon his acquittal, Joseph was unceremoniously arrested again. When Joseph was finally able to return to Emma, he received this revelation for her (for more information on these events, see “Thou Art An Elect Lady”).
Recently, I found myself rocked by uncertainty, hopelessness, and loneliness because of various circumstances in my life. Supports I had previously relied on were taken away; I felt like a boat lost at sea during a storm, with no anchor and no assurance. In my difficulty, I read this revelation over and over again. When I study God’s counsel to Emma, I feel His love for her, for me, and for all of His daughters.
In the revelation, God teaches that when we encounter trials, opposition, or difficulty, He wants us to develop greater faith in Jesus Christ. We can do this by trusting in the Lord’s sight, seeking His will and acting in faith.
Trust in the Lord’s sight
The Lord warned Emma, “Murmur not because of the things which thou hast not seen, for they are withheld from thee and from the world, which is wisdom in me in a time to come” (Doctrine and Covenants 25:4).
The Lord may have been referring to the fact that Emma was not allowed to see the plates from which Joseph was translating. Other people had been chosen to be eyewitnesses of the original record of the Book of Mormon, but Emma was not. This would be hard! Yet, in this personal message, the Lord told Emma that he was withholding them from her. He was not allowing her to see them on purpose. Why didn’t the Lord just let Emma see? In turn, why doesn’t He let us always see or have what we want, especially when we feel that we deserve it?
The Lord himself answers this question: “which is wisdom in me in a time to come.” He is asking us to trust Him! In order to navigate the difficult trials we experience, we need to trust in His wisdom and His sight. We don’t have the perfect perspective, or the needed wisdom, but the Lord does. It is part of His plan that “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Walking by faith is relying on the Lord’s sight instead of our own.
Seek the Lord’s will
A faithful friend of mine was recently serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when she got a terrible infection in her eye. After many days in the hospital, she returned home to receive care. The healing process was slow and very painful. During this time, every time I visited or saw my friend, she was smiling with real joy. Although she is blind in her eye, she is happily returning to finish her mission, anxious to share the gospel.
Although my friend is dealing with literal blindness she never could have anticipated, she is earnestly seeking to do the Lord’s will.
When we trust in Him, the Lord clarifies and redirects our vision to see the individual mission that He has prepared for us, often one step at a time. In Emma’s case, right after He warned her not to complain and to trust Him, He told her what her calling was:
“And the office of thy calling shall be for a comfort unto my servant, Joseph Smith, Jun., thy husband, in his afflictions…
“And thou shalt go with him at the time of his going, and be unto him for a scribe…
“And thou shalt be ordained under his hand to expound scriptures, and to exhort the church, according as it shall be given thee by my Spirit.
“For he shall lay his hands upon thee, and thou shalt receive the Holy Ghost, and thy time shall be given to writing, and to learning much…
“And it shall be given thee, also, to make a selection of sacred hymns, as it shall be given thee, which is pleasing unto me, to be had in my church” (Doctrine and Covenants 25: 5-8, 11).
It wasn’t Emma’s job to be an eyewitness of the plates. The Lord needed Emma to have faith in His plan for her life. He needed her to help Joseph, to lead the women of the Church, and to love and teach the Saints.
Similarly, if we ask in faith, the Lord will reveal to us our own personal mission. When we feel the Lord withholding what we want, perhaps the best question to ask Him is “what do You want me to do or learn?” When we truly ask and seek to do the Lord’s will, He will answer. The Lord will tell us what He would have us do in small moments and on a daily basis.
Act in faith
As we learn God’s will for us, our faith moves us to action.
Emma fulfilled the Lord’s will for her with great faith. She supported Joseph through all their trials together and was a scribe for him as he translated the Book of Mormon. She was the first president of the Relief Society (the organization for women in the Church), leading the women in their efforts to serve. She also selected hymns for the first hymnbook in the Church. Because Emma acted in faith, she contributed and led in a way she likely had not anticipated (see “Emma Hale Smith”).
Mormon, a prophet in the Book of Mormon, expressed his faith: “And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will” (Words of Mormon 1:7). Trusting in the Lord gives us each power to do what He asks, just as it did for Mormon and Emma.
I am inspired by the examples of others who act in faith. I saw a friend give her burden of sin to the Lord through repentance and choose to be baptized. Another friend mothers a disabled child with determination, trusting in God to lead her as He has in the past. I often hear expressions of trust in and love for the Lord from a friend who has experienced heartache when marriage has not yet become a reality for her. Making faithful choices, however small, strengthens and deepens our faith in Jesus Christ.
I know that God lives. He loves us and wants us to experience the joy that comes from exercising faith in Jesus Christ. He is our Redeemer and Savior, and we can overcome any difficulty through Him.
Invitation: This week, consider a trial you are experiencing. Pray to God and express your trust in Him. Ask the Lord in prayer what His will is for you, and spend time listening to the spiritual feelings you receive. Then, follow through! Ask yourself the following questions:
- How do you exercise your faith in Jesus Christ when you are experiencing trials?
- What does it mean to you to trust in the Lord?
- How have you seen God’s hand in your life during times of trial?
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