God answers every prayer...
But He doesn’t always answer with a “yes.”
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We often focus on Enos’ request that the Lord granted, for the scriptures to be preserved, but there was another request that Enos gave as well, one he “poured out his whole soul for,” (Enos 1:9). He asked for the welfare of the Nephites. And God said, in essence, “no.”
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“I will visit thy brethren according as I have said; and their transgressions will I bring down with sorrow upon their own heads,” (Enos 1:10).
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Enos’ response to the Lord’s seemingly less-than-ideal answer is beautiful, “And after I, Enos, had heard these words, my faith began to be unshaken in the Lord.”
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Another powerful example of this principle is Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Trembling because of the pain.
Bleeding from every pore.
Pleading for the cup to pass.
And God’s answer was “no.” Not because Jesus was doing anything wrong or because He lacked faith, but because that’s what needed to happen for Christ to reach His full potential..and for each of us to reach ours.
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Christ’s response? “Thy will, not mine, be done.”
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Our faith is not measured by God giving us the answer we want.
Our faith is measured by our reaction to God’s answer.
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Our ability to not shrink and align with God’s will.
Our ability to have faith in God, not results.
Elder Bednar says, when we have a combination of faith and submission, that is when miracles happen.
Maybe your CIRCUMSTANCE will not change the way you want it to, but YOU will always change in the way that GOD wants you to.
If we can just put our faith in Him, we too will reach our full potential....whether that means having
faith to M O V E mountains,
or faith to C L I M B mountains.
Art by @yongsungkimart
“That we might not shrink” Elder Bednar