To distract: to draw away or divert, as the mind or attention; to disturb or trouble greatly in mind; to provide a pleasant diversion for. These are the dictionary definitions… and I wanted to share them with you, why? Because this is happening ALL THE TIME.
Bruna had been completely prepared by the Lord. Upon our first time teaching her, we all shed tears of joy as she received answers to prayers. As she realized that the true church of Jesus Christ was here on the earth. As she realized that she could be washed clean from every sin she had ever committed. We invited her to be baptized - she accepted - and to read the Book of Mormon and pray about her decision. Bruna continued to progress. She was GLOWING. And she was focused on making the necessary changes to bring her life into alignment with the teachings of our Lord.
However, we know that it is at these crucial times in our lives that Satan will try his hardest to draw us away from the path of peace and light. It’s what he did to Bruna. She had an ex-husband, a job, and friends that began to distract her. Bruna’s story is tragic. She did a 180 and began smoking (an old habit), drinking (not even an old habit), and got back with her abusive ex-husband. She told us that she had really felt something different the first day we’d talked with her, but that there was no room in her life for something like this Gospel.
Now I know we don’t all have experiences like this. We don’t just go off the deep end and say we don’t want anything to do with this Gospel at all, but, in our own ways, we definitely get distracted from our true purpose. We get caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, and we forget to stop and ponder. We forget to look for opportunities to grow and be more like Christ. We begin to live for work and school and for the craziness of everything else. That’s NOT why we’re here. We’re not here to have a great job, be the smartest, have a hot body, post perfect pictures on Facebook, or anything of the sort, and yet these things take up most of our thoughts. We focus on this much more than we focus on the words of the prophets, the counsel of our bishop, the holy scriptures, and the promptings sent to us through the Holy Ghost by our Savior.
I hope we will all choose today to figure this out. We can pray for strength to focus. We can put the things of God before the things of men- because the things of men obviously still have to get done. We don’t have to be distracted. Our Heavenly Father doesn’t want it that way. He’s totally got our back on this one. So when we focus and try, His Son will carry us and make us into the people we want to be.
And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the
blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness.
Mosiah 2:41
No comments:
Post a Comment