Unjustly accused. Beaten in Public. Put in prison – in stocks.
At midnight they prayed. They sang hymns of praise to God. The other prisoners listened.
"Suddenly there was a violent earthquake, which shook the prison to its foundations. At once all the doors opened, and the chains fell off all the prisoners.” (Acts 16:26).
This is the story of Paul and Silas – at least part of it – as told in the book of Acts in the Bible (Acts 16:16-40). They were followers of Jesus Christ. Their experience has a lot to tell us about progress, the kind of progress that cannot be held back.
We usually think of progress in terms of someone moving forward from one place, condition, or circumstance to another – a movement that results in advancement or improvement. Yet the progress that moves us forward in the most significant way is more fundamental. This is where Paul and Silas come in.
Spirituality impelled their progress. Their hearts and minds were wide open to God’s love and to its expression in their lives. They knew from the life and work of Jesus Christ that there is no limit to the power of God of divine Truth and Love. In fact, they were devoting themselves to spreading the Christian gospel of love, regeneration, and healing through their own practice of it and through sharing it with others. And spiritual progress occurred wherever they found receptive hearts. But those who were not receptive to the good they were preaching and practicing tried to stop progress.
Let face it: “Opposition, criticism and antagonism are companions to the truth. Whenever the truth with regard to the purpose and destiny of man is revealed there will always be a force to oppose it. Adam and Eve, Christ, Joseph Smith down to our day, there has always been and will ever be an effort to deceive, derail, oppose, and frustrate the plan of life – Elder Lawrence E. Cornridge – Liahona, May 2014, P.104.
For example, the reason Paul and Silas had been beaten and thrown into prison was that Paul had cast an evil spirit out of a slave girl whose owners had been profiting from her as a fortuneteller. When they saw that she was healed, and would not be making money for them anymore, they became angry. They dragged Paul and Silas through the streets to the Roman officials and publicly accused them of having broken Roman law by their Christian preaching. Spurred on by the excitement of the crowd, the officials beat them and locked them up in jail without so much as a hearing.
To their accusers, the progress of Paul and Silas seemed definitely to have been stopped. But not Paul and Silas. They went right on doing what they had been doing – praising God, with their hearts open to His ever-active, all-powerful goodness. There were no chains and doors intended to hold back their progress could not do it. The chains fell off. The doors opened. Even the jailer opened his heart to God. Asking Paul and Silas how he could be saved, he took them into his house, where he and his family listened to them preach the word of God; then he washed their wounds; and he and his family were baptised. The next morning Paul and Silas were officially released, and continued on with their ministry, which, as we have clearly seen, had never actually been interrupted.
What does all this have to do with our own progress? It illustrates that when we open our hearts to God and expressed His Love in our lives, nothing can hold us back.
Right now, wherever we are, whatever we are doing, whomever we are with, we can let the love of God be expressed in us. There is nothing to prevent us from doing this. And no claim of limitation – be it of heredity, age, health, experience, education, opportunity, or resistance – can stand up to the infinitude of ever-active divine Love. This Love cannot be held in bonds. Nothing can keep it from setting us free to move forward in any right endeavor.
But in this progress there may be new, and sometimes quite unexpected, demands on us each day to love our way out of the supposed restrictions trumped up by the carnal, mortal mind. Day by day we need to prove such restrictions to be false, powerless – through our faithful adherence to Truth and Love. “Every day makes its demands upon us for higher proofs rather than professions of Christian power. These proofs consist solely in the destruction of sin, sickness, and death by the power of Spirit, as Jesus Christ destroyed them. This is an element of progress, and progress is the law of God, whose law demands of us only what we can certainly fulfil”.
The basic lie of mortal mind is that we are encased in and restrained by matter. This is a lie because God makes man in His image, spiritual and without limitations. Man is progressive because God is work, through perfect and complete, never comes to a stop. God is continuously expressing Himself, unfolding His idea of completeness and perfection in man. “God expresses in man the infinite idea forever developing itself, broadening and rising higher and higher from a boundless basis.
There is no end, then, to the new and fresh ways we can express the boundless love, intelligence, and goodness of God in our lives. Only the unjust, restrictive claims of mortal mind can come to an end – because they had no beginning in God, the divine Mind, or in His idea, man. The expression of Truth and Love cannot be, and never has been, held in bonds by false beliefs. Such errors of thought suffer from their own injustice. They are encased in their own limitations. And they break down and fall away from us in proportion as we understand, rejoice in, and unite wholeheartedly with the truth of spiritual being.
So, be just to yourself. Go forward today. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, whomever you are with, fling your heart wide open to God and sing praises to Him. Devote yourself to His service. Let Him express His love in you. You will find yourself breaking free from limitations. Your health will be improved. Latent talents and abilities will be evident. New opportunities will become apparent. Claims of heredity and age will lose their grip on you. Your progress will be unlimited. And no doubt about it, others will find the free love of God through your living of it. (Remember the prisoners, the jailer, and the jailer’s family?)
Nothing can resist the unfolding expression of Truth in man. Every claim of limitation on you and me and everyone must eventually yield to the law of God, the law of progress. As the Bible says, “the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”
So shall it be in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen.
Friday, May 29, 2020
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Threats to your God-given dream
Everybody is a critic, have you noticed? Especially when you are chasing a dream they have deemed an “unrealistic fantasy.” Dealing with that negative input is hard—on you and your goals—but you can choose once and for all to keep moving, regardless of others’ opinions. This is your time, your life, your moment of truth.
Do not let criticism or rejection control you or stop you from getting what you want. It's not what other people say that decides our success; it’s how we respond to their comments, what we think they mean, and whether the challenges trigger the "giving up" reflex in us or motivate us to hang tough and keep fighting.
The scriptures tell us of different types of revelation, such as vision, dreams, and visitations by angels. A covenant person “receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things – that which bringeth joy, that which bringeth life eternal” (Doctrine and Covenants, D&C, 42:61).
God has conveyed important messages to people in a variety of ways. In Bible times, He occasionally used dreams. But these were not every day vague, illogical dreams. Dreams from God were vivid and coherent, and they had a definite message. For example, in a dream, the prophet Daniel saw a series of beasts that symbolize political empires from Babylon down to our time. (Daniel 7:1-3, 17) By means of a dream, God told Joseph of Nazareth, the adoptive father of Jesus, to flee to Egypt with his wife and child. As a result, Jesus escaped death at the hands of vicious King Herod. When Herod died, God disclosed his death to Joseph by means of a dream, at the same time instructing him to return with his family to their homeland.—Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23.
What are the factors that can threaten your God-given? They are SELF DOUBT, OPPOSITION FROM SIGNIFICANT OTHERS, STRONG TEMPTATION, UNDESERVED REPROACH, DELAY AND DISAPPOINTMENT
The mind is your battleground. It’s the place where the greatest conflict resides. It’s where half of the things you thought were going to happen, never did happen. But if you allow those thoughts to dwell in your mind, they will succeed in robbing you of peace, joy, God-given and ultimately your life. You will think yourself into a nervous breakdown, into depression, and into defeat. I know because I’ve been there.
What can be done? To start, say this to yourself every morning when you first wake up:
“I’m letting go of all the negative feelings, fears and thoughts from yesterday. I have no room for them! I will focus only on positive thoughts and resolutions today because I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me.”(Read Philippians 4:13, Alma 26:12).
And then practice what you preach. It will gradually make a difference in your life, guaranteed.
Because truthfully, there is so much about your fate that you can’t control, it makes no sense to neglect all the things you CAN control. You can decide how you spend your time, whom you socialize with, whom you share your life, money and energy with. You can pick your words and the tone of voice in which you speak to others. You can select what you will eat, read and study every day. You can choose how you’re going to respond to unfortunate situations when they arise, and whether you will see them as curses or opportunities for growth…
And most importantly, you can choose your thoughts, which dictate pretty much everything else.
Train your mind to see the good in everything. Positivity is a choice. The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.
In other words, you are what you think.You cannot change anything if you cannot change your thinking.
Here are twenty thoughts indicating it is time to change:
1. “My dreams and goals can wait.” – Live a life you are proud of. In the end, your greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things that don’t matter to you. We never tell ourselves that we will never live our dreams. Instead we just keep talking about how we will start living our dreams tomorrow.
2. “I don’t have time.” – Bottom line: “I don’t have time,” is really just another, perhaps politer, or perhaps naive, way of saying, “It’s not that important to me.”
3. “I’m not talented enough.” – Learn the value of work and practice – just the repeated concerted effort to get better at things. Forget the notions of talent and genius. I can hear you thinking, “Oh, these other people, they just have something that I don’t have.” When really, they are just people who work and practice more. Understand this. Work and practice are the keys to anything you want to do. If you want to play the guitar – anybody can learn to play the guitar – you can be good at it. Maybe you won’t be Jimi Hendrix, but you could be really good. You can be good enough to write good songs or make music with others or whatever. There’s no such thing as not having enough talent to get to that level. Because persistence is talent, really. Just sticking with it. Talent is not stopping.
4. “This problem is too big to solve.” – The problem is not the problem. The problem is the incredible amount of over-thinking you’re doing with the problem. Let it go and be free.
5. “I’m not ready yet.” – The truth is nobody ever feels ready when an opportunity arises. Because great opportunities in life force us to grow emotionally and intellectually. They force us to stretch ourselves and our comfort zones, which means we won’t feel comfortable at first. And when we don’t feel comfortable, we don’t feel ready. But that doesn’t change the fact that sometimes the course of our lives depends on what we do or don’t do in a few seconds, a heartbeat, when we either seize an opportunity, or just miss it. Miss the moment and you may never get a chance again. So in case you never get a second chance, don’t be afraid! And what if you do get a second chance? Take it! It’s as simple as that.
6. “I knew I wasn’t good enough.” – Your struggle is part of your story. Being rejected from something you want often means you are being directed toward something you need.
7. “I’m a failure.” – Not trying is failing. Everything else is just practice. It’s OK if you mess up, that’s how you get wiser. Give yourself a break. And don’t give up! Good things take time, and you’re getting there, one step at a time.
8. “I just want everything to be easy.” – In every adversity there is a message. Struggles and crises are nature’s way of forcing change – breaking down old structures, shaking loose negative habits so that something new and better can grow in their place. So remember, just because you are struggling does NOT mean you are failing. Every great success requires some kind of struggle to get there.
9. “They have it so much easier than me.” – No one has it easier than you. Every one of us is fighting our own private battles. The strongest among us aren’t those who show strength we can see, but those who have won incredible inner battles we know nothing about.
10. “I have nothing to be thankful for.” – Choose positivity today. If you’re struggling to be thankful for what you have, think for a moment and be thankful for what you’ve escaped. Honestly, it doesn’t really matter if your glass is half empty or half full. Be thankful that you have a glass and that there’s something in it.
11. “I have too many flaws.” – Wrong. When you’re comfortable in your skin, even your flaws look beautiful. And once you’ve embraced your flaws, no one can use them against you.
12. “They don’t have what it takes either.” – We have enough critics. Be an encourager. One sincere word of encouragement after failure is worth more than a day of praise after success. So start cheering for the people around you. Not only will they feel empowered, but also what goes around comes around, and sooner or later the people you’re cheering for will start cheering for you too.
13. “I don’t have time for anyone else.” – One of the most spiritual things you can do is embrace your humanity. Connect with those around you today. Say, “I love you,” “I apologize,” “I appreciate you,” “I’m proud of you”… whatever you’re feeling. Send random emails and texts, write a friendly note, embrace your truth and share it. Create a smile today for someone else… and give plenty of hugs. This connectedness will strengthen you.
14. “My closest relationships can wait.” – If you never stop to enjoy who’s beside you, someday you’ll realize you’ve wasted all your years looking for something, a sort of trophy you think you’ll get only if you really, really do enough to deserve it. But then one day you’ll wake up and not want it anymore; you’ll want something else, something warm and sheltering, something you can turn to, regardless of what you do, regardless of who you have ultimately become. Something that will just be there, always, like tomorrow’s morning sky. And the only way to create this “something” is to nurture the amazing people in your life.
15. “I can break my promise just this once.” – Be committed. Commitment means staying loyal and keeping your promises, long after the time and mood you made the promises in has left you. Doing so is vital to relationships and long-term success in every imaginable walk of life.
16. “One little lie couldn’t hurt.” – Lying is a vicious disease. It spreads quickly. And liars are the only people who expect acknowledgment for being honest. Don’t be one of them. Don’t lie. Do the right thing, even if you are the only one who knows.
17. “They care about me, but they are just too busy to keep their promises.” – It may be hard to accept, but when you are important to another person, they will always find a way to make time for you – no excuses, no lies, and no broken promises.
18. “I refuse to cry.” – We need never be ashamed of our tears. Do not apologize or feel ashamed for crying. Without this emotion, you are only a robot. Crying is one of the highest devotional songs. The ones who know crying, know what it means to be spiritual. If you can cry with a pure heart – through forgiveness and acceptance – nothing else compares to such a prayer. Crying includes all the core principles of humanity.
19. “I refuse to forgive.” – Forgive the past. It’s over. Learn from it and let go. People and situations are constantly growing and changing. Do not cling to a limited, disconnected, negative image of a person or time in the past. See your life now. Your relationships and circumstances are always alive and changing.
20. “My heart has been broken too many times to take new risks.” – Sometimes it takes a heartbreak or a major letdown to shake us awake and help us see we are worth so much more than we are settling for. Will letting go be hard? Sure, but not nearly as hard as holding on to something that wasn’t real. You have to put your heart out there. Because the emotions that can break your heart are oftentimes the very ones that heal it and help it grow.
Truth be told, it is ultimately only our own thoughts that hurt us.
So think about it: What negative thoughts and destructive thinking patterns do you struggle with?
2.OPPOSITION FROM SIGNIFICANT OTHERS
We will use Joseph’s case as recorded in the Bible. Listen to these words of Joseph's brothers; right after he told them about his dream. I'm reading from Genesis 37:8. His brothers said to him, "Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to have dominion over us?" So they hated him yet more for his dreams and for his words.
The first threat to a God-given dream may be rejection and opposition from people close to us. Think of Joseph's brothers. In the dream he had, they were paying him homage, bowing before him. But in the real world, things seemed dramatically different. Jealous of him already for being his father's favorite, they hated Joseph all the more when he had shared his dream. They were filled with jealousy. They had only harsh words for him. Later, out in the fields, they saw him coming from afar and plotted to kill him. "Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; . . . then we shall see what will become of his dreams!" (vv. 19-20). They stripped him of his dress coat and threw him into a cistern. Through the mercy of his brother Reuben and later of Judah, they didn't kill Joseph but they sold their young brother for a slave. They treated him like a thing, a commodity. Joseph, what's becoming of your dream?
Think about Saul, the Pharisee, who became Paul the apostle. Once the Lord had given him a vision of what his ministry was to be, Saul's old friends rejected him. His countrymen plotted to kill him several times. Those with whom he had served on the Sanhedrin wanted to see him executed. When Paul tried to obey the heavenly vision, he was hated and opposed at every point.
Think about The Prophet Joseph Smith who obeyed God and did not join any existing Church. As he told people what he had seen and heard, he began experiencing opposition and persecution.
With most of us, perhaps, it hasn't been that dramatic or extreme. But maybe we've had a taste of something like it. I remember some of my close friends and relations I liked and trusted who seemed at first to like and trusted me but lost interest in me when they realized that I was serious about becoming a Christian member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They wanted no part of that dream.
What about you? Has someone close to you made pursuing the dream difficult?
3.STRONG TEMPTATION
Here's a second threat: strong temptation, attempts of the evil one to undermine character. After being taken down to Egypt, Joseph was bought by a captain of the Egyptian guards, Potiphar. Joseph became his household servant, a post he occupied with great faithfulness. Potiphar's wife, however, made repeated attempts to seduce the young man. Many things would have seemed to make that temptation very difficult to resist. Joseph was young, handsome, strong, single, and vulnerable. Also, the tempter was a woman in authority over him. It was his duty to obey her; it was in his interest to oblige her. She could doubtless have contributed to his advancement. And it would surely be dangerous to slight or antagonize a woman with such power.
Opportunity also favored the temptation. They were together in the house. No one else was around. There was no danger of detection and she would certainly have protected him if they became involved. Her persistence also made resistance difficult. She kept after him day by day, even took hold of his clothes to entrap him.
Joseph was not immune to the desires and drives common to young men or that this woman, the pampered wife of a wealthy and influential court official, was physically undesirable. Would Joseph rationalize that the master would never know? Would he be tempted by the thought of the material advantages that such a liaison might offer?
What helped Joseph to withstand those pressures? The key, it seems to me, was respect. There was respect for his master. Joseph said, "He leaves the management of his whole house to me. He has trusted me with all that he has. How can I do this?" (see Gen. 39:8-9). In other words, "How can I betray a trust? How can I wrong so deeply those who have treated me well?" Caring about and esteeming other people is a great defense against wrong.
There was also self-respect. Fidelity goes right to the heart of who we are. To break our promises, to violate a trust, is to sacrifice integrity, to lose our true selves. "How can I do this?" Joseph asked.
Most of all, there's respect and fear of God. "How can I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" (v. 9) Joseph says. He names it as a great wrong. He calls it what God calls it. Perhaps adultery is not so serious in the eyes of many people. In John Grisham's best-selling novel, The Firm, the hero justifies yielding to the lures of a prostitute with this thought: "everyone does things like this," and "no one will ever know."
Joseph couldn't look at it that way. He knew that God knew. The worst thing about sin, what most gives it enormity and ugliness, is its thrust against God, His covenant, His command, His grace, His holiness. Joseph fled, got himself out of harm's way, and didn’t stay to argue.
The surest way for the devil and his agents to block the dream in our lives is to undermine our character, to destroy our integrity. We all get attacked along that line, don't we? Some of the temptations are blatant and obvious, some quite subtle. What would have become of the great dream, we wonder, if Joseph had carried on an affair with his master's wife? Yes and what will happen to yours and mine if we violate our conscience?
4.UNDESERVED REPROACH
Here's a four threat: undeserved reproach. Potiphar's wife, we read, accused Joseph of trying to rape her and then fleeing when she screamed. Potiphar, hearing this, was enraged and had Joseph thrown into the guard house with the king's prisoners. Joseph resisted temptation - and look what happened!
This seems to be one of the real risks in seeking to fulfill the life dream God gives us. Think of what various enemies called our Lord Jesus Christ Himself: an impostor, an agitator, a madman, an enemy of the people, an agent of the devil. Think of what they called His servant Paul: a charlatan, a perverter of crowds, a hater of the law, defiler of the temple, a scoundrel, someone not fit to live. Our Prophet Joseph Smith passed through similar situation. He was eventually killed.
We sometimes feel that if we obey God and keep our noses clean, our good name won't be sullied. But, as they say, "it ain't necessarily so." We see in Joseph's case that being innocent of a wrong doesn't always preserve one's reputation. Not everyone who keeps a good conscience can also keep a good name, at least in the eyes of some.
God let this happen, didn't He? But it didn't frustrate the dream. And no false accusations against us will ever finally defeat us, even though they can make life extremely painful at times. Are you facing something like that?
5.DELAY AND DISAPPOINTMENT
Here's another threat of a different kind: delay and disappointment. As we read Joseph's story, we see him bouncing back again and again. After the bitter trauma of being sold into slavery by his brothers, he makes good in Potiphar's house, works his way up, and has success. Then after he's thrown in prison, he wins the favor of the chief jailor and again is favored. After he becomes the attendant of the king's cupbearer and baker, God's dreamer becomes an interpreter of their dreams. Joseph asks the cupbearer when he's restored to remember him and bring his case to Pharaoh's notice so that Joseph also can be released.
But the cupbearer forgets all about Joseph. He neglects to mention him to the king. Another two years go by. Maybe those were the hardest two years in Joseph's life. He has survived a terrible injustice, a strong temptation, unjust accusation. He's kept on being faithful where he is in spite of all his difficulties. But he's counted on that cupbearer to return the favor and intercede for him. Surely this will be God's way, he thinks, to rescue him from distress so that he can get on with his life.
But no, it doesn't happen. The months drag by. What's becoming of your dream, Joseph? Disappointment and delay can sometimes be harder to deal with than heavy adversities. Nothing happens. Time passes.
I wonder how the apostle Paul felt about all the months he spent in prison when he wanted to be out evangelizing the world. He had hoped to go to Spain, but that wasn't possible. He wanted to visit the young churches he had founded but was hindered from doing that. Disappointment, delay. Delay, disappointment. Are you listening, Lord? Can't you see that I want to finish my course, get my work done, and fulfill your dream?
Can you identify with that mood? You've been waiting a long time, putting up with a lot of disappointments. What For? So much for your hopes and dreams! Time is slipping by and here you sit, frustrated.
There's a fascinating word about all this in Psalm 105, verses 17-19. Listen:
He [that is, God] had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. His feet were hurt with fetters, his neck was put in a collar of iron; until what he had said [in the dreams, that is] came to pass the word of the Lord tested him.
So that's what it was. In the persecution, the temptation, the reproach, the long waiting, the word of the Lord kept testing Joseph until the dream was fulfilled. None of this was announced, of course. There was no vision from heaven about it, no word of explanation. These things simply kept happening to Joseph or to Paul, just like they keep happening to you and me. They severely challenge the dream. They call it in question. More than that, they test the dreamer. We have to be able to take it. The big test of character is often this: endurance. Can we bear hardship without breaking down, without giving up?
THE TURNAROUND
Then the turnaround: here comes the dramatic turn of events. Amazing things happen and they happen fast. Pharaoh has his dreams and no one can interpret them. The cupbearer remembers his experience with Joseph and tells Pharaoh. Pharaoh sends for Joseph and tells him the dreams. Joseph gives glory to God as the only One who can fathom these mysteries. Then he teaches Pharaoh about the seven fat and seven lean years. Pharaoh appoints Joseph prime minister to establish a food reserve. At the age of 30, this man Joseph has authority under Pharaoh over all Egypt. He marries the daughter of an Egyptian priest and has two children. One he calls Manasseh (God has made me forget all my troubles) and the other Ephraim (God has made me fruitful in the land of my hardships). Joseph is passing the test, isn't he? He's acting like God's man. Now in an amazing way, the dream is about to be fulfilled.
There's a famine in the land of Canaan and Joseph's brothers come to Egypt to buy grain. A lot of intrigue follows. They come to Joseph. He knows who they are but they don't recognize him. Joseph decides to put them to the test. He gives them food and sends them back to bring his younger brother Benjamin with them next time they come. When they return with their younger brother, they're tested again. Finally, Joseph, overcome with emotion, reveals himself to his brothers. The entire family of Jacob then comes to Egypt and settles in the land of Goshen.
Later on, as the patriarch Jacob is about to die, he gives a parting blessing to his sons. The brothers are fearful now that Joseph may finally take revenge. Then as the saga of Genesis concludes, we see these brothers bowing to the ground before Joseph saying, "We are your slaves. We are the servants of your father's God."
In a way beyond all imagination Joseph's impossible dream comes true. It's not a dream world. In fact, it's a world where God-given dreams are bitterly contested. But right here, in this real world, God fulfilled the life dream of His servant Joseph, of His servant Paul. Yes, beyond their wildest dreams. Apparently, the fulfilling of a dream often involves the long and sometimes painful molding of the person. God has to deal with the dreamer before the dream can come true.
On this the scripture admonishes:
“And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. – D&C 122:7.
President Lorenzo Snow advises: “never feel too lofty to be sometimes cut down, squared, scored, and hewed to be fitted into the place we are to occupy in the spiritual building”. (Teachings of Presidents of the Church – Lorenzo Snow, p.218).
Listen to what my friend, Obasesam Okoi, has to say on this: “There are times we encounter challenges that compel us to question the plan of God. There are times when tragedies unfold in our lives and we begin to question the plan of God. There are times we find our boat sinking and wonder if God has forsaken us. The truth is, whatever God has called you to do must be tested against your own life. If you're called to unite people, you'll be a victim of opposition. If you're called to preach peace, you'll be a victim of family conflict. If you're called to liberate people, you'll be a victim of incarceration. If you're called to defend human rights, your rights will be violated. If you're called to preach wisdom, you will make dangerous mistakes in life. If you're called to mend broken hearts, you'll be a victim of heartbreak. If you're called to extend love to others, you will be a victim of hatred. If you're called to ignite hope in others, you'll be a victim of hatred. If you're called to show kindness to others, you will be a victim of wickedness. If you're called to make others happy, you'll be a victim of sorrow. If you're called to speak truth to power, you'll be a victim of calumny. If you're called to be a leader, you'll be a victim of opposition. These tests are meant to teach us important lessons. According to Abraham Lincoln, "only the test of fire makes fine steel."
Where does all of this find you? If you are a believer in Christ, you've been given some kind of dream. What has been happening to it? What kind of opposition have you faced from people? What sort of temptation? What kind of reproach have you had to bear? What disappointments and delays have been discouraging you? Maybe in your case too, the word of the Lord will keep testing you until the time is right and you're ready. Then perhaps in ways you don't expect or can't imagine, the impossible dream can be fulfilled.
I testify that if we are faithful and obedient to our Heavenly Father commandments, remain determined and steadfast in doing what is right in spite of temporal setbacks, He will consecrate our afflictions for our good. I share this with us in sacred name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Do not let criticism or rejection control you or stop you from getting what you want. It's not what other people say that decides our success; it’s how we respond to their comments, what we think they mean, and whether the challenges trigger the "giving up" reflex in us or motivate us to hang tough and keep fighting.
The scriptures tell us of different types of revelation, such as vision, dreams, and visitations by angels. A covenant person “receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things – that which bringeth joy, that which bringeth life eternal” (Doctrine and Covenants, D&C, 42:61).
God has conveyed important messages to people in a variety of ways. In Bible times, He occasionally used dreams. But these were not every day vague, illogical dreams. Dreams from God were vivid and coherent, and they had a definite message. For example, in a dream, the prophet Daniel saw a series of beasts that symbolize political empires from Babylon down to our time. (Daniel 7:1-3, 17) By means of a dream, God told Joseph of Nazareth, the adoptive father of Jesus, to flee to Egypt with his wife and child. As a result, Jesus escaped death at the hands of vicious King Herod. When Herod died, God disclosed his death to Joseph by means of a dream, at the same time instructing him to return with his family to their homeland.—Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23.
What are the factors that can threaten your God-given? They are SELF DOUBT, OPPOSITION FROM SIGNIFICANT OTHERS, STRONG TEMPTATION, UNDESERVED REPROACH, DELAY AND DISAPPOINTMENT
The mind is your battleground. It’s the place where the greatest conflict resides. It’s where half of the things you thought were going to happen, never did happen. But if you allow those thoughts to dwell in your mind, they will succeed in robbing you of peace, joy, God-given and ultimately your life. You will think yourself into a nervous breakdown, into depression, and into defeat. I know because I’ve been there.
What can be done? To start, say this to yourself every morning when you first wake up:
“I’m letting go of all the negative feelings, fears and thoughts from yesterday. I have no room for them! I will focus only on positive thoughts and resolutions today because I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me.”(Read Philippians 4:13, Alma 26:12).
And then practice what you preach. It will gradually make a difference in your life, guaranteed.
Because truthfully, there is so much about your fate that you can’t control, it makes no sense to neglect all the things you CAN control. You can decide how you spend your time, whom you socialize with, whom you share your life, money and energy with. You can pick your words and the tone of voice in which you speak to others. You can select what you will eat, read and study every day. You can choose how you’re going to respond to unfortunate situations when they arise, and whether you will see them as curses or opportunities for growth…
And most importantly, you can choose your thoughts, which dictate pretty much everything else.
Train your mind to see the good in everything. Positivity is a choice. The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.
In other words, you are what you think.You cannot change anything if you cannot change your thinking.
Here are twenty thoughts indicating it is time to change:
1. “My dreams and goals can wait.” – Live a life you are proud of. In the end, your greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things that don’t matter to you. We never tell ourselves that we will never live our dreams. Instead we just keep talking about how we will start living our dreams tomorrow.
2. “I don’t have time.” – Bottom line: “I don’t have time,” is really just another, perhaps politer, or perhaps naive, way of saying, “It’s not that important to me.”
3. “I’m not talented enough.” – Learn the value of work and practice – just the repeated concerted effort to get better at things. Forget the notions of talent and genius. I can hear you thinking, “Oh, these other people, they just have something that I don’t have.” When really, they are just people who work and practice more. Understand this. Work and practice are the keys to anything you want to do. If you want to play the guitar – anybody can learn to play the guitar – you can be good at it. Maybe you won’t be Jimi Hendrix, but you could be really good. You can be good enough to write good songs or make music with others or whatever. There’s no such thing as not having enough talent to get to that level. Because persistence is talent, really. Just sticking with it. Talent is not stopping.
4. “This problem is too big to solve.” – The problem is not the problem. The problem is the incredible amount of over-thinking you’re doing with the problem. Let it go and be free.
5. “I’m not ready yet.” – The truth is nobody ever feels ready when an opportunity arises. Because great opportunities in life force us to grow emotionally and intellectually. They force us to stretch ourselves and our comfort zones, which means we won’t feel comfortable at first. And when we don’t feel comfortable, we don’t feel ready. But that doesn’t change the fact that sometimes the course of our lives depends on what we do or don’t do in a few seconds, a heartbeat, when we either seize an opportunity, or just miss it. Miss the moment and you may never get a chance again. So in case you never get a second chance, don’t be afraid! And what if you do get a second chance? Take it! It’s as simple as that.
6. “I knew I wasn’t good enough.” – Your struggle is part of your story. Being rejected from something you want often means you are being directed toward something you need.
7. “I’m a failure.” – Not trying is failing. Everything else is just practice. It’s OK if you mess up, that’s how you get wiser. Give yourself a break. And don’t give up! Good things take time, and you’re getting there, one step at a time.
8. “I just want everything to be easy.” – In every adversity there is a message. Struggles and crises are nature’s way of forcing change – breaking down old structures, shaking loose negative habits so that something new and better can grow in their place. So remember, just because you are struggling does NOT mean you are failing. Every great success requires some kind of struggle to get there.
9. “They have it so much easier than me.” – No one has it easier than you. Every one of us is fighting our own private battles. The strongest among us aren’t those who show strength we can see, but those who have won incredible inner battles we know nothing about.
10. “I have nothing to be thankful for.” – Choose positivity today. If you’re struggling to be thankful for what you have, think for a moment and be thankful for what you’ve escaped. Honestly, it doesn’t really matter if your glass is half empty or half full. Be thankful that you have a glass and that there’s something in it.
11. “I have too many flaws.” – Wrong. When you’re comfortable in your skin, even your flaws look beautiful. And once you’ve embraced your flaws, no one can use them against you.
12. “They don’t have what it takes either.” – We have enough critics. Be an encourager. One sincere word of encouragement after failure is worth more than a day of praise after success. So start cheering for the people around you. Not only will they feel empowered, but also what goes around comes around, and sooner or later the people you’re cheering for will start cheering for you too.
13. “I don’t have time for anyone else.” – One of the most spiritual things you can do is embrace your humanity. Connect with those around you today. Say, “I love you,” “I apologize,” “I appreciate you,” “I’m proud of you”… whatever you’re feeling. Send random emails and texts, write a friendly note, embrace your truth and share it. Create a smile today for someone else… and give plenty of hugs. This connectedness will strengthen you.
14. “My closest relationships can wait.” – If you never stop to enjoy who’s beside you, someday you’ll realize you’ve wasted all your years looking for something, a sort of trophy you think you’ll get only if you really, really do enough to deserve it. But then one day you’ll wake up and not want it anymore; you’ll want something else, something warm and sheltering, something you can turn to, regardless of what you do, regardless of who you have ultimately become. Something that will just be there, always, like tomorrow’s morning sky. And the only way to create this “something” is to nurture the amazing people in your life.
15. “I can break my promise just this once.” – Be committed. Commitment means staying loyal and keeping your promises, long after the time and mood you made the promises in has left you. Doing so is vital to relationships and long-term success in every imaginable walk of life.
16. “One little lie couldn’t hurt.” – Lying is a vicious disease. It spreads quickly. And liars are the only people who expect acknowledgment for being honest. Don’t be one of them. Don’t lie. Do the right thing, even if you are the only one who knows.
17. “They care about me, but they are just too busy to keep their promises.” – It may be hard to accept, but when you are important to another person, they will always find a way to make time for you – no excuses, no lies, and no broken promises.
18. “I refuse to cry.” – We need never be ashamed of our tears. Do not apologize or feel ashamed for crying. Without this emotion, you are only a robot. Crying is one of the highest devotional songs. The ones who know crying, know what it means to be spiritual. If you can cry with a pure heart – through forgiveness and acceptance – nothing else compares to such a prayer. Crying includes all the core principles of humanity.
19. “I refuse to forgive.” – Forgive the past. It’s over. Learn from it and let go. People and situations are constantly growing and changing. Do not cling to a limited, disconnected, negative image of a person or time in the past. See your life now. Your relationships and circumstances are always alive and changing.
20. “My heart has been broken too many times to take new risks.” – Sometimes it takes a heartbreak or a major letdown to shake us awake and help us see we are worth so much more than we are settling for. Will letting go be hard? Sure, but not nearly as hard as holding on to something that wasn’t real. You have to put your heart out there. Because the emotions that can break your heart are oftentimes the very ones that heal it and help it grow.
Truth be told, it is ultimately only our own thoughts that hurt us.
So think about it: What negative thoughts and destructive thinking patterns do you struggle with?
2.OPPOSITION FROM SIGNIFICANT OTHERS
We will use Joseph’s case as recorded in the Bible. Listen to these words of Joseph's brothers; right after he told them about his dream. I'm reading from Genesis 37:8. His brothers said to him, "Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to have dominion over us?" So they hated him yet more for his dreams and for his words.
The first threat to a God-given dream may be rejection and opposition from people close to us. Think of Joseph's brothers. In the dream he had, they were paying him homage, bowing before him. But in the real world, things seemed dramatically different. Jealous of him already for being his father's favorite, they hated Joseph all the more when he had shared his dream. They were filled with jealousy. They had only harsh words for him. Later, out in the fields, they saw him coming from afar and plotted to kill him. "Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; . . . then we shall see what will become of his dreams!" (vv. 19-20). They stripped him of his dress coat and threw him into a cistern. Through the mercy of his brother Reuben and later of Judah, they didn't kill Joseph but they sold their young brother for a slave. They treated him like a thing, a commodity. Joseph, what's becoming of your dream?
Think about Saul, the Pharisee, who became Paul the apostle. Once the Lord had given him a vision of what his ministry was to be, Saul's old friends rejected him. His countrymen plotted to kill him several times. Those with whom he had served on the Sanhedrin wanted to see him executed. When Paul tried to obey the heavenly vision, he was hated and opposed at every point.
Think about The Prophet Joseph Smith who obeyed God and did not join any existing Church. As he told people what he had seen and heard, he began experiencing opposition and persecution.
With most of us, perhaps, it hasn't been that dramatic or extreme. But maybe we've had a taste of something like it. I remember some of my close friends and relations I liked and trusted who seemed at first to like and trusted me but lost interest in me when they realized that I was serious about becoming a Christian member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They wanted no part of that dream.
What about you? Has someone close to you made pursuing the dream difficult?
3.STRONG TEMPTATION
Here's a second threat: strong temptation, attempts of the evil one to undermine character. After being taken down to Egypt, Joseph was bought by a captain of the Egyptian guards, Potiphar. Joseph became his household servant, a post he occupied with great faithfulness. Potiphar's wife, however, made repeated attempts to seduce the young man. Many things would have seemed to make that temptation very difficult to resist. Joseph was young, handsome, strong, single, and vulnerable. Also, the tempter was a woman in authority over him. It was his duty to obey her; it was in his interest to oblige her. She could doubtless have contributed to his advancement. And it would surely be dangerous to slight or antagonize a woman with such power.
Opportunity also favored the temptation. They were together in the house. No one else was around. There was no danger of detection and she would certainly have protected him if they became involved. Her persistence also made resistance difficult. She kept after him day by day, even took hold of his clothes to entrap him.
Joseph was not immune to the desires and drives common to young men or that this woman, the pampered wife of a wealthy and influential court official, was physically undesirable. Would Joseph rationalize that the master would never know? Would he be tempted by the thought of the material advantages that such a liaison might offer?
What helped Joseph to withstand those pressures? The key, it seems to me, was respect. There was respect for his master. Joseph said, "He leaves the management of his whole house to me. He has trusted me with all that he has. How can I do this?" (see Gen. 39:8-9). In other words, "How can I betray a trust? How can I wrong so deeply those who have treated me well?" Caring about and esteeming other people is a great defense against wrong.
There was also self-respect. Fidelity goes right to the heart of who we are. To break our promises, to violate a trust, is to sacrifice integrity, to lose our true selves. "How can I do this?" Joseph asked.
Most of all, there's respect and fear of God. "How can I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" (v. 9) Joseph says. He names it as a great wrong. He calls it what God calls it. Perhaps adultery is not so serious in the eyes of many people. In John Grisham's best-selling novel, The Firm, the hero justifies yielding to the lures of a prostitute with this thought: "everyone does things like this," and "no one will ever know."
Joseph couldn't look at it that way. He knew that God knew. The worst thing about sin, what most gives it enormity and ugliness, is its thrust against God, His covenant, His command, His grace, His holiness. Joseph fled, got himself out of harm's way, and didn’t stay to argue.
The surest way for the devil and his agents to block the dream in our lives is to undermine our character, to destroy our integrity. We all get attacked along that line, don't we? Some of the temptations are blatant and obvious, some quite subtle. What would have become of the great dream, we wonder, if Joseph had carried on an affair with his master's wife? Yes and what will happen to yours and mine if we violate our conscience?
4.UNDESERVED REPROACH
Here's a four threat: undeserved reproach. Potiphar's wife, we read, accused Joseph of trying to rape her and then fleeing when she screamed. Potiphar, hearing this, was enraged and had Joseph thrown into the guard house with the king's prisoners. Joseph resisted temptation - and look what happened!
This seems to be one of the real risks in seeking to fulfill the life dream God gives us. Think of what various enemies called our Lord Jesus Christ Himself: an impostor, an agitator, a madman, an enemy of the people, an agent of the devil. Think of what they called His servant Paul: a charlatan, a perverter of crowds, a hater of the law, defiler of the temple, a scoundrel, someone not fit to live. Our Prophet Joseph Smith passed through similar situation. He was eventually killed.
We sometimes feel that if we obey God and keep our noses clean, our good name won't be sullied. But, as they say, "it ain't necessarily so." We see in Joseph's case that being innocent of a wrong doesn't always preserve one's reputation. Not everyone who keeps a good conscience can also keep a good name, at least in the eyes of some.
God let this happen, didn't He? But it didn't frustrate the dream. And no false accusations against us will ever finally defeat us, even though they can make life extremely painful at times. Are you facing something like that?
5.DELAY AND DISAPPOINTMENT
Here's another threat of a different kind: delay and disappointment. As we read Joseph's story, we see him bouncing back again and again. After the bitter trauma of being sold into slavery by his brothers, he makes good in Potiphar's house, works his way up, and has success. Then after he's thrown in prison, he wins the favor of the chief jailor and again is favored. After he becomes the attendant of the king's cupbearer and baker, God's dreamer becomes an interpreter of their dreams. Joseph asks the cupbearer when he's restored to remember him and bring his case to Pharaoh's notice so that Joseph also can be released.
But the cupbearer forgets all about Joseph. He neglects to mention him to the king. Another two years go by. Maybe those were the hardest two years in Joseph's life. He has survived a terrible injustice, a strong temptation, unjust accusation. He's kept on being faithful where he is in spite of all his difficulties. But he's counted on that cupbearer to return the favor and intercede for him. Surely this will be God's way, he thinks, to rescue him from distress so that he can get on with his life.
But no, it doesn't happen. The months drag by. What's becoming of your dream, Joseph? Disappointment and delay can sometimes be harder to deal with than heavy adversities. Nothing happens. Time passes.
I wonder how the apostle Paul felt about all the months he spent in prison when he wanted to be out evangelizing the world. He had hoped to go to Spain, but that wasn't possible. He wanted to visit the young churches he had founded but was hindered from doing that. Disappointment, delay. Delay, disappointment. Are you listening, Lord? Can't you see that I want to finish my course, get my work done, and fulfill your dream?
Can you identify with that mood? You've been waiting a long time, putting up with a lot of disappointments. What For? So much for your hopes and dreams! Time is slipping by and here you sit, frustrated.
There's a fascinating word about all this in Psalm 105, verses 17-19. Listen:
He [that is, God] had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. His feet were hurt with fetters, his neck was put in a collar of iron; until what he had said [in the dreams, that is] came to pass the word of the Lord tested him.
So that's what it was. In the persecution, the temptation, the reproach, the long waiting, the word of the Lord kept testing Joseph until the dream was fulfilled. None of this was announced, of course. There was no vision from heaven about it, no word of explanation. These things simply kept happening to Joseph or to Paul, just like they keep happening to you and me. They severely challenge the dream. They call it in question. More than that, they test the dreamer. We have to be able to take it. The big test of character is often this: endurance. Can we bear hardship without breaking down, without giving up?
THE TURNAROUND
Then the turnaround: here comes the dramatic turn of events. Amazing things happen and they happen fast. Pharaoh has his dreams and no one can interpret them. The cupbearer remembers his experience with Joseph and tells Pharaoh. Pharaoh sends for Joseph and tells him the dreams. Joseph gives glory to God as the only One who can fathom these mysteries. Then he teaches Pharaoh about the seven fat and seven lean years. Pharaoh appoints Joseph prime minister to establish a food reserve. At the age of 30, this man Joseph has authority under Pharaoh over all Egypt. He marries the daughter of an Egyptian priest and has two children. One he calls Manasseh (God has made me forget all my troubles) and the other Ephraim (God has made me fruitful in the land of my hardships). Joseph is passing the test, isn't he? He's acting like God's man. Now in an amazing way, the dream is about to be fulfilled.
There's a famine in the land of Canaan and Joseph's brothers come to Egypt to buy grain. A lot of intrigue follows. They come to Joseph. He knows who they are but they don't recognize him. Joseph decides to put them to the test. He gives them food and sends them back to bring his younger brother Benjamin with them next time they come. When they return with their younger brother, they're tested again. Finally, Joseph, overcome with emotion, reveals himself to his brothers. The entire family of Jacob then comes to Egypt and settles in the land of Goshen.
Later on, as the patriarch Jacob is about to die, he gives a parting blessing to his sons. The brothers are fearful now that Joseph may finally take revenge. Then as the saga of Genesis concludes, we see these brothers bowing to the ground before Joseph saying, "We are your slaves. We are the servants of your father's God."
In a way beyond all imagination Joseph's impossible dream comes true. It's not a dream world. In fact, it's a world where God-given dreams are bitterly contested. But right here, in this real world, God fulfilled the life dream of His servant Joseph, of His servant Paul. Yes, beyond their wildest dreams. Apparently, the fulfilling of a dream often involves the long and sometimes painful molding of the person. God has to deal with the dreamer before the dream can come true.
On this the scripture admonishes:
“And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. – D&C 122:7.
President Lorenzo Snow advises: “never feel too lofty to be sometimes cut down, squared, scored, and hewed to be fitted into the place we are to occupy in the spiritual building”. (Teachings of Presidents of the Church – Lorenzo Snow, p.218).
Listen to what my friend, Obasesam Okoi, has to say on this: “There are times we encounter challenges that compel us to question the plan of God. There are times when tragedies unfold in our lives and we begin to question the plan of God. There are times we find our boat sinking and wonder if God has forsaken us. The truth is, whatever God has called you to do must be tested against your own life. If you're called to unite people, you'll be a victim of opposition. If you're called to preach peace, you'll be a victim of family conflict. If you're called to liberate people, you'll be a victim of incarceration. If you're called to defend human rights, your rights will be violated. If you're called to preach wisdom, you will make dangerous mistakes in life. If you're called to mend broken hearts, you'll be a victim of heartbreak. If you're called to extend love to others, you will be a victim of hatred. If you're called to ignite hope in others, you'll be a victim of hatred. If you're called to show kindness to others, you will be a victim of wickedness. If you're called to make others happy, you'll be a victim of sorrow. If you're called to speak truth to power, you'll be a victim of calumny. If you're called to be a leader, you'll be a victim of opposition. These tests are meant to teach us important lessons. According to Abraham Lincoln, "only the test of fire makes fine steel."
Where does all of this find you? If you are a believer in Christ, you've been given some kind of dream. What has been happening to it? What kind of opposition have you faced from people? What sort of temptation? What kind of reproach have you had to bear? What disappointments and delays have been discouraging you? Maybe in your case too, the word of the Lord will keep testing you until the time is right and you're ready. Then perhaps in ways you don't expect or can't imagine, the impossible dream can be fulfilled.
I testify that if we are faithful and obedient to our Heavenly Father commandments, remain determined and steadfast in doing what is right in spite of temporal setbacks, He will consecrate our afflictions for our good. I share this with us in sacred name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
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