Settle this in our hearts

“In our own storms in life the Savior is our solace and our sanctuary.

If we seek peace, we must come unto Him.”

“…On a hill called Calvary, while helpless followers looked on, His wounded body was nailed to a cross. Mercilessly He was mocked and cursed and derided. And yet He cried out, ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.’  The agonizing hours passed as His life ebbed. From His parched lips came the words, ‘Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.’  As the serenity and solace of a merciful death freed Him from the sorrows of mortality, He returned to the presence of His Father. At the last moment, the Master could have turned back. But He did not. He passed beneath all things that He might save all things.”

Thomas S. Monson

“I believe when we determine within our hearts that by and with the blessings of God our Heavenly Father we will accomplish a certain labor, God gives the ability to accomplish that labor; but when we lay down, when we become discouraged, when we look at the top of the mountain and say it is impossible to climb to the summit, while we never make an effort it will never be accomplished.”

Heber J. Grant

“Somehow, some way, we must find the healing influence that brings solace to the soul. Where is this balm? Where is the compensating relief so desperately needed to help us survive the world’s pressures? The offsetting comfort in large measure can come through increased communion with the Spirit of God. This can bring spiritual healing.”

 

James E. Faust

 

“When compared to eternal verities, most of the questions and concerns of daily living are really rather trivial. What should we have for dinner? What color should we paint the living room? Should we sign Johnny up for soccer? These questions and countless others like them lose their significance when times of crisis arise, when loved ones are hurt or injured, when sickness enters the house of good health, when life’s candle dims and darkness threatens. Our thoughts become focused, and we are easily able to determine what is really important and what is merely trivial.”

Thomas S. Monson

 

“How many times do we conclude our prayers with, ‘Let this cup pass from me’? Under circumstances when the symbolic cup might represent sickness, pain, anxiety, or the suffering of a loved one, are we able to continue our prayer with, ‘Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt’? This very word, this key word nevertheless, conveys the firm conviction that we are placing everything in the hands of the Lord.”

 

Angel Abrea

 

The Lord will never forsake or abandon anyone. You may abandon him, but he will not abandon you.

You never need to feel that you are alone.

 

Joseph B. Wirthlin

 

Consecration involves pressing forward “with a steadfastness in Christ” with a “brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men … while feasting upon the word of Christ”. Jesus pressed forward sublimely. He did not shrink, such as by going only 60 percent of the distance toward the full atonement. Instead, He “finished His preparations” for all mankind, bringing a universal resurrection not one in which 40 percent of us would have been left out.

Along this pathway leading to consecration, stern and unsought challenges sometimes hasten this jettisoning, which is needed to achieve increased consecration. If we have grown soft, hard times may be necessary. If we are too contented, a dose of divine discontent may come. A relevant insight may be contained in reproof. A new calling beckons us away from comfortable routines wherein the needed competencies have already been developed. One may be stripped of accustomed luxury so that the malignant mole of materialism may be removed. One may be scorched by humiliation so pride can be melted away. Whatever we lack will get attention, one way or another.

John Taylor indicated that the Lord may even choose to wrench our very heartstrings. If our hearts are set too much upon the things of this world, they may need to be wrenched, or broken, or undergo a mighty change.

Consecration is thus both a principle and a process, and it is not tied to a single moment. Instead, it is freely given, drop by drop, until the cup of consecration brims and finally runs over.

Long before that, however, as Jesus declared, we must “settle this in our hearts” that we will do what He asks of us. President Young further counseled us “to submit to the hand of the Lord, … and acknowledge his hand in all things, … then you will be exactly right; and until you come to that point, you cannot be entirely right.

That is what we have to come to”.

Thus, acknowledging God’s hand includes, in the words of the Prophet Joseph, trusting that God has made “ample provision” beforehand to achieve all His purposes, including His purposes in our lives. Sometimes He clearly directs; other times it seems He merely permits some things to happen. Therefore, we will not always understand the role of God’s hand, but we know enough of his heart and mind to be submissive. Thus when we are perplexed and stressed, explanatory help is not always immediately forthcoming, but compensatory help will be. Thus our process of cognition gives way to our personal submission, as we experience those moments when we learn to

“be still, and know that I am God”.

Then, the more one’s will is thus “swallowed up,” the more his afflictions, rather than necessarily being removed, will be “swallowed up in the joy of Christ”.

Seventy years ago, Lord Moulton coined a perceptive phrase, “obedience to the unenforceable,” describing “the obedience of a man to that which he cannot be forced to obey”. God’s blessings, including those associated with consecration, come by unforced obedience to the laws upon which they are predicated. Thus our deepest desires determine our degree of “obedience to the unenforceable.” God seeks to have us become more consecrated by giving everything. Then, when we come home to Him, He will generously give us “all that He hath”.

The submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar. The many other things we “give,” are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us. However, when you and I finally submit ourselves, by letting our individual wills be swallowed up in God’s will, then we are really giving something to Him! It is the only possession which is truly ours to give!

Consecration thus constitutes the only unconditional surrender which is also a total victory!

May we deeply desire that victory, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Neal A. Maxwell