Something struck me today and I just wanted to write about it.  I know that there are a lot of people out there struggling right now.  There are fires closing in on homes to the north of me, fires in california, floods and tornados striking people in missouri, Oklahoma, and texas.  But one common thread I have found is people pulling together in faith during these times.  I would like to ask everyone to keep the people in the troubled areas in their prayers, your best thoughts and/or  wishes this week as things are going more and more chaotic all over. 

For those who are personally struggling to find the light in their lives, I know you can find it.  Look into your hearts and take the time to search, ponder, pray, and surround yourself with the good things of life, with good spirited friends, clean uplifting music, with going to church and fasting and praying for answers.  Listen to the leaders, search the scriptures, ponder and pray on what strikes you the most and note it for future reference.  Find what it is that matters the most to you for your spirits sake and seek it out with earnest endeavor.  God knows the innermost parts of your heart, and knows what you are struggling with.  He knows when you are down, he knows when you are afraid, alone, hurting, and when things are just not going right.  He loves you and wants to help, yet you have to do your part too.  If you are trying your best to do and say the right things, he will help you find just what it is that you need to do and say to set things on the right path. 

You are though only accountable for what you do and say in life, and you cannot change anothers path if they do not wish to change.  Free agency is one of the most prized and painful gifts sometimes.  You have the right to choose to stop what you can, do, say and work with what you can, but remember this one lesson, if someone chooses to do the wrong things, nothing you do or say will necessarily change what they are going to do anyway.  You can always try, and never give up hope that they will change, but if you did your best and they are still doing the wrong things, then sometimes you have to let the answer fall on their own heads.  It is out of your hands at that point, and you are not to blame. 

Even in families, people can and will fall.  People are people and are not perfect.  You will find both saints and devils in almost every faith there is.  If you dig for dirt, you are going to find it in every walk of life, every faith, every science, everything...  but if you look for the light, the good and the blessings you will find those too. Life is not about pointing fingers about who is better than who.  Life is about making it through doing the right things, finding the path in the darkness and finding the way into the light.  If you make a mistake, admit it, set it right as much as humanly possible, repent from it, and go on.  There is always a way to find the light in life. 

No one is perfect, and anyone who says they are... well, you know that line too well by now.   What I am saying is that there are second chances in life, new birth, regrowth and times that will seem to knock everything you have, every friend, every bit of family, everything you own and love and know down into nothingness.  Those are the times when you have to find what really matters.  What is it, when you have lost everything, when there is nothing left to you but your own soul and body that keeps you going?

What is the one key that when the darkness strikes and all seems lost, like the trials of Job in the scriptures that keeps one going in utter loss and despair?  For me it was that love of God, the sure knowledge that he is there and does love me.  It is the true faith, the knowledge and understanding that even though the devil may pursue to the worst, and all may be lost right down to even your health and ability to work, that you will still be able to make it, because he is there, he does care, and he will provide a way for things to progress if you keep the faith in him.  He knows, and he does care, and the light is there and does help in unexpected and sometimes even miraculous ways.  I am only here still because God has a plan for me in life.  I should not even have survived most of what I have been through and still come out with as much as I have.  God does know, he does understand, and the suffereing he bore for us was unimaginable.

Just think of it, someone who loves us enough to bear the entire torment of grief, guilt, pain, evil, and suffering that was ever inflicted on the full of mankind.  That kind of love is priceless and without end.  He knew, and still he bore it, he endured it, and then he also died for us in the worst possible way known at that time.  He gave his very life, his existance all for love, and to think that if he would go that far he would leave us in the darkness alone???  NO way!  He loves each and every one of us.  He knows what we are going through.  He knows just how hard it is, and just how much we endure in our hearts, bodies, minds and spirits.   He loves us.  You, me, even the lost on the street.  He loves us.  He grieves for the lost and fallen, he cries for the griefstricken, he sends comfort and aid to the fallen.  He knows!  What powerful words those are, he knows.  No better friend could you have than him, as he never leaves, he listens to your heart every time you pray, every time you need help, and every time you seek answers that you cannot find.  He knows!  He loves us! 

With one sweep he could stop all the evils in life, but he lets them happen.  Without the evils in life, there would be no great good, no growth, no understanding, no learning, no peace or joy.  Without the trials to make us grow, we cannot grow in life or progress in the path back to heaven, and there can be no mercy or judgement, as there is no evidence of good or evil without them.  The blood of the innocent on the hands of the evildoers will stand as a testiment against them in the last days, and I can only say may heaven have mercy on their souls.  I would not want to be in their shoes for the world.  To stand and look in the Saviors eyes at the last days, the day of judgement, all will have to do.  By their works and fruits in life, people will be judged, and without the influences of good and evil, there would be no trial to test and mold the spirit into what kind of person they can become. 

Yes there are evil people in this world, and God created people with free agency to choose for themselves how they would be, what they would do and say in life, and what they would become.  He created spirits with infinite possibilites that could be used for good or evil, knowing that some may choose the evil path, but he had love enough to let them go to give them the chance to possibly change, to grow, to become something mighty and special.  He knew some would potentially fall, so he set a path to where the spirits who would heed him could come home, the greatest plan of them all.  Free choice is ours to have.  We can control our own lives, but not the lives of others, so for good or ill, we can make the choices to become what we want.  God knows, and understands when we make mistakes, that is why the atonement was there in the first place.  That was key and part of the greatest plan of them all.  He loved us enough to give us the light and knowledge to change.

He knows what we are going through, he understands what we need to grow.  He knows that sometimes bad things have to happen to allow the greater blessings and growth of the spirit for later in life.  He loves us enough to help us through those times, by sending people, answers and comfort to those that need it.  He knows and loves us enough to seek us out when we are lost, to send the people with the right answers to help us when confused, and to give us peace when we are in the midst of the battles around us.  Never give up hope, because he knows.

That is one thing that when you lose everything else will be a constant.  He knows and loves us!  He is there and does care!  He knows and will help, not always with the answer that we want to hear, or with what we expect, but with the path that will be the greatest blessing in our lives if we hold to it.  He knows and understands.  Never give that hope and faith up.  Best of blessings and remember this,

Maraleh

Tags: Faith Hope Atonement Savior Suffering Help God Love Faith Light