Searching for Guidance

Day four

I awoke today knowing that I had much to accomplish and that I would need spiritual guidance if I was to be successful in my endeavors.  My prayers included a plea for the Spirit to be with me, to guide me and that I would have the wisdom, strength and courage to listen and follow.  It is a good thing I asked for the last part, because soon after I finished my prayers I jumped right in on the tasks at hand.  Things weren't going as smoothly as I had hoped, what was wrong? 

You might say to yourself, it is obvious, you haven't mentioned scripture study.  It is true, I haven't mentioned my scripture study. I was planning on getting to my scripture study after I finished my morning tasks.  What was I thinking?  This is where the gratitude for the promptings of the Spirit come in.  It didn't take me too long to figure out that my plan was completely backwards.  I had asked for guidance and inspiration, but where was I looking for it?  So I set aside my work and began my scripture study.  How thankful I am for that moment of wisdom to listen to the Spirit and read the scriptures!

I covered a lot of material today with Sections 68-75. 

Section 68 had some good advice for me:
Verses 3-4 - "and they shall speak as they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost."  "And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation."

If the words I was going to use were to have any kind of spiritual affect on those that read them, I would need to know the will of the Lord.  I needed to take a moment and reflect on what the Lord would want me to say.  As I thought more about it, I started to get a little nervous about where this was going.  Am I putting too much pressure on myself?  Will what I have to say really make that much of a difference?  So I went back to the scriptures.

Section 68:6 - "Wherefore, be of good cheer and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you..."

Okay, His timing is awesome.  If I seek the Lord in what I am doing he will be there for me.  No fear!  With that in mind I let go of the anxiety and moved on...to more scripture reading.  I was getting excited about what was being revealed through my scripture study and didn't want to stop.

So I moved on to Sections 69-75.  These sections are filled with information about stewardship, responsibility and accountability.  Remember my question," Will what I say really make that much of a difference?"  Well apparently the answer is YES!  It is part of my stewardship to teach, expound, and edify.   These things are only effective if done by the Spirit.  I use my words to do these things, so it is important that I choose them wisely and let the Spirit guide me.  Wait is that anxiety creeping back in to my mind?!

Here's what helped me with that...
Section 75:21 The Lord is talking to missionaries and letting them know that whether people receive their message or reject their message the missionaries themselves "shall be filled with joy and gladness." 

I think this could apply to anyone in a teaching or leadership position.  If I do my part to the best of my ability and those that the message is intended for do not accept it, it is on them and not me.  Okay, deep breath, all is okay, let the anxiety go.

Feeling like I had been spiritually filled I was ready to conquer the tasks of the day.  It is funny how I wanted to postpone my scripture reading until I felt like I had more time and then I spent more time reading them then I probably would have later.  I had asked for wisdom and the Lord came through.  Lesson learned, I can't spiritually fill others if I haven't filled myself first!  A lesson I hope I never to forget!