Know He Is There

As I write this blog, I find it hard to bring my thoughts together. If you’ve noticed, I haven’t really posted a whole lot these last couple months. That of course doesn’t mean I haven’t been thinking about things. I suppose my time has just been spent elsewhere, which honestly I’m okay with. I don’t like feeling like I have to post things on my blog. I like the idea of making a post because I want to take the time to record my thoughts, and I guess make it public for the few people that venture onto this site.

Having said that, I suppose it would only make sense that I had some thought that I deemed worthy of sharing, or else I wouldn’t be writing this. And that is the case.

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I just recently read a talk by Marvin J. Ashton (and when I say recently, I mean like 25 mins ago, so pretty recent). It is titled, Know He Is There. You can probably gather from the title that it is about prayer. If not, then I’m telling you, it is about prayer.

Now, I’ve never been too concerned with this idea of knowing that God is there. I say that not trying to put down those of you that may have this concern, but merely to inform you of where I am coming from. Ever since I can remember I’ve known that God is there. I purposefully use the word “known,” because the truth is that I can’t say I’ve felt that he is there all the time. I don’t really want to talk about why that may be the case, or if I am wrong in saying that. Because there are definitely those out there that would say “You have been feeling that God is there all the time. You’re just not recognizing it.” And that may be the case, but that topic is for a different day. I want to follow this idea of knowing God is there, and why that is important.

Elder Ashton, in his talk said,

“What a blessing it is to know that when we have special challenges, heartbreaks, unusual experiences, or disappointments, He is there, and we can cry unto Him in faith and complete trust.

“Very often over the years, I have had peace and patience knowing that He was there and would not forsake me, even though some prayers seemed unanswered. … Perhaps it would be good for our souls to build the understanding that He is there, even our loving and eternal Father, and that oftentimes, delays to our urgent pleas can be best for us.”

Thought #1:

Continuing on with what I said before, he talks about “knowing” that God is there. I sometimes ask myself, “Is it enough to just know?” I wonder if I should be feeling it all the time as well. If so, am I doing something wrong that prevents me from feeling it all the time?

--- Side Note: As I typed those questions, I had a thought come to me. It may be possible, at least in my case, that my thoughts/knowledge is much more solid than my feelings. I can remember very specific instances in my life (they are more than a few) when my feelings would waver, but I was able to fall back on what I knew in order to find security. I wonder if it is different for other people. If instead what they know seems to waver, do they fall back on what they have felt? Hmm…. definitely something to think about. ---

I believe that one of the challenges of this life is to find balance in both feelings and knowings (I recognize that “knowings” isn’t a word, but I liked how it sounded in the sentence, so I’m opting to use my artistic license as the author of this post). For me I feel this is extremely difficult. I am very well aware that I currently lean (and in some cases fall over) to one side of the spectrum. I don’t have a whole lot of answers as to how to create this balance. I figure it is something that comes with time and experience. Most importantly, I believe that it is acquired by those that strive for it.

In my short time living, I’ve noticed that there are some things that come just by luck. I don’t mean luck in the since that God had nothing to do with it, because that is obviously not the case, nothing is coincidence. What I mean by luck is that, what ever that “some thing” is, it didn’t come from any particular or at least direct effort by the recipient to obtain it. There are a whole slew of these “lucky” instances. However, this balance that I speak of, I don’t believe it can be found without pursuing it actively.

Thought #2:

I like what he says about the soul possibly needing to build understanding. I’d like to point out that most of the time, at least in the church,

Soul = Physical Body + Spirit

but I often think of it differently. I often think of it as

Soul = Heart + Mind (if you want to add Might and Strength in there, you can)

now that is most likely the “same difference,” but that is how I think about it. Either way I think that it is interesting that he says the soul needs to build understanding that God is there. It seems that it is our experiences (specifically our difficult ones) that foment that learning process.

This concept I think makes sense to most of us, or perhaps just feels right to most of us, but when those moments of intense struggle knock at our door, it can be quite hard to remember that simple truth. I believe that is why it so necessary that our souls gain this understanding. If we can get our souls to that level of understanding where both our minds and hearts recognize that God is there no matter what, we can persevere through even the worst of storms.

Later in his talk, Elder Ashton says,

“What a great strength it would be to all of us in times of desperation and wonderment to humbly approach His throne with, ‘Please hear my prayers. Answer them in Thy great wisdom for my best good. But please give me the constant reassurance that Thou art there and that peace, contentment, and the courage to continue are mine because I have faith and can come to Thee who hast promised not to forsake us.’”

The truth is, this humble attitude is difficult to find when the trials hit hard, but I know it can be found. We can find it. The Holy Spirit will be our teacher if we let him. If he can help soften the hardest of hearts, and humble the proudest of spirits, then he most certainly can help us, if we are actively striving to gain that understanding of the soul.

We all know it isn’t easy, and Elder Ashton wasn't trying to say differently,

“We are to exercise faith. We are placed on earth as a probation. It is not now—nor was it ever—the intention of a wise, omniscient Heavenly Father to solve all our problems. Life is not an uninterrupted holiday. God expects us to struggle so we may become godlike.”

Godlike?...........that is something to think about. When I think of becoming like God, it seems like it is so far off in the future, and there are definitely some occasions when it doesn’t even seem possible, but I know that especially in those times I need to remember to find the faith to turn to the Savior, Jesus Christ. He, with the Holy Ghost, is the perfecter of our souls.

Don’t get discouraged!

Even an apostle of the Lord has to continually try, “I want you to know that I know God hears and answers prayers. He has answered many of mine. I have lived sufficiently long on this earth to see that some of the prayers which I concluded were not answered were answered for my best good. I am still trying to recognize a “no” answer. I am still trying to recognize and accept silent answers…. To be dependent on [Heavenly Father], yet to communicate with Him, I must make faithful personal effort on a never-ending basis.”

Even if I have to try forever, I am certain that this “faithful personal effort” will allow me to find my way through this race of life. It takes actively pursuing, but it can be done.