When we truly have faith in God, we trust His timing. The author of the book of Ecclesiastes reminds us that many of our experiences occur on a schedule beyond our control: To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a... Continue Reading →
Practicable
Do you ever feel like there isn't enough time to do everything that you need to do? How do you deal with that situation? In January of 1832, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon had multiple competing demands on their time. They had taken a break from translating the Bible to preach the gospel (Doctrine and... Continue Reading →
Wise in Time
How do we choose to spend our time, and what do those choices say about our character? In December 1831, the Lord gave the following promise to a group of church leaders gathered in Kirtland, Ohio: He who is faithful and wise in time is accounted worthy to inherit the mansions prepared for him of my Father.Doctrine and Covenants... Continue Reading →
“Seek Not to Be Cumbered”
When 25-year-old William E. McLellin asked Joseph Smith for guidance in October of 1831, his life was in transition. His wife of two years, Cynthia Ann, had died. He had met some missionaries and joined the church just two months earlier. Now, he wanted to know what was next. In the revelation Joseph received in... Continue Reading →
Talent
Five talents, two talents, one talent. The wealth was not evenly distributed. But it didn't matter, because this wasn't a permanent gift. The owner was merely leaving town, and he had entrusted three of his servants to look after his wealth in his absence. What were they to do with all this money? He didn't... Continue Reading →
“As for Years”
How would your decisions change if you thought you would never move? What if you thought you'd be in your current job forever? Would you approach your activities differently? Would you make any investments that would improve your productivity and your job satisfaction? In 1831, a group of church members relocated from New York to... Continue Reading →
“In the Very Hour”
It is more important to be prepared than to have a plan. Plans rely on assumptions about things we can't control. The most brittle plans rely heavily on these assumptions, while more resilient plans allow for adaptation under changing circumstances. A good plan recognizes that the participants will be actors, not merely executors, and will... Continue Reading →
“The Time Is Past”
I've been thinking this week about a stern message the Lord gave to Oliver Cowdery in an 1829 revelation. Oliver had sought the gift to translate and had been given permission to try. When he failed, the Lord instructed him to resume his role as scribe. The problem, apparently, was that Oliver hadn't realized the... Continue Reading →
“Go Ye Forth of Babylon” – 1 Nephi 20:20
"The world is too much with us," wrote the poet William Wordsworth. He meant that our lives are influenced more than we realize by the society in which we live, leaving us unable to properly perceive "things as they really are" (Jacob 4:13). As Elder David R. Stone explained: Our culture tends to determine what... Continue Reading →
“Do Not Spend Money for That Which Is of No Worth” – 2 Nephi 9:51
We all have limited resources, and we have countless ways to spend our time, money, and energy. Ironically, some of the most valuable things in life are relatively inexpensive, while many things which consume our resources have an extremely low ROI. That is the message of Isaiah in a passage which Jacob paraphrases in a... Continue Reading →