Today I read Alma 29, where Alma wishes he were an angel so that he may be more effective in declaring the word of God unto all the world. His one desire in life is that he may be an instrument in the hands of God to help in bringing some souls unto repentance.
I too have a desire to be an instrument in the hands of God. I love being able to assist in His holy work here. It is truly a wonderful thing. Ever since I was a teenager I have longed to be an instrument in God's hands. For awhile there I would call myself a spiritual Boyscout. Boyscouts are always told to leave a place better than when they found it. As a spiritual boyscout, it was always my desire to leave a person better off than when I found them, in whatever way possible. There are periods in my life where I feel I could have done better about it, but I think I've done ok.
It always amazes me the various types of people here in the world. I LOVE to help people. It just blows my mind that there are people that don't care about the happiness of other people. Now, I don't mean a people pleaser, or a "yes" man, I mean I genuinely want people to be happy and have the righteous desires of their hearts. I recognize that you cannot please everyone and I don't try to. But I try and do little things that can make people happy. And if a person lets me into their life, I try and help them and help them improve their lives in what ever way possible. That is my desire of the heart. I have always felt a connection between myself and Alma the Younger for that. He is one of those people I cannot wait to meet. I would like to think that we would be friends.
The other part of this chapter that struck a cord with me was in verse 4. In this verse, Alma teaches the principle that God cares about what is important to us and will grant us our desires, so to speak. I would definitely add that you should be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it. I remember I once had a wish that I asked of God, and much to my sadness He gave it to me.
When I was in college, I dated a girl for several months, a girl that I knew God did not want me to marry. But I loved her and so continued to date her, and when the inevitable happened that we broke up, my heart broke. I was so sad and lonely for months. During the lowest point of my hurt I asked God to never let me feel this way again, that if a girl was not meant for me to not let me date her. So essentially I told God that I didn't want another relationship except for with my future wife. Much to my heartache and consternation, He granted me my wish.
I made that wish in 2004, and I did not meet my wife until 2007. Holy cow what a wild ride those 3 years were! I met girls that I fell for hard and in some cases I knew they felt the exact same way about me, but they would never date me for some reason. Something would always come up, or they would just not date me even though they wanted to. I could not figure out for the longest time. Finally sometime in 2007, I think it was about a month before I met my wife, I remembered that I had asked God for just this, and He in His love for me, granted me my wish.
I am currently in the midst of another such "wish" I asked God for help with and He is helping me like the loving Father He is, but again just not in the way I thought He would. I am still grateful for the help though and for the love He has for me that He would grant me my wishes even if they weren't quite what I thought they were at the time. I guess my advice would be to everyone is the next time you think you want something, think long and hard about it. Analyze it from every angle and make sure it is exactly what you want before you ask for God's help with it. Because He loves us and He WILL help you and give it to you. You just may come to realize that it wasn't what you thought it was.
The age old adage is true: "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it!" Until tomorrow everyone.
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