*My search for Answers lead to a Recipe for Peace
I remember I was serving in Young Women's when the year's theme, "Peace in Christ" came from that awesome scripture in
D&C 19:23 that says, "Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in
the meekness of my Spirit, and ye shall have peace in me". I was so excited because I had my
recipe! Only took me over 40 years to figure that out...even though it was right in front of me for years. I was really seeking peace in my life. So I tried really hard to do all those things to have peace. I
focused on meekness for a long time. I read books on it, studied it...my favorite thing I learned about meekness came from Sister Patricia Holland. She said, "Meekness is walking with God." If I could learn to control my emotions with
meekness--express them at the right time in the right way, just the way
God wanted me to--wow backwards! Wouldn't that be great?! (But back then I didn't
understand that my emotions are controlled by my thoughts. Hold on, I'll get to that later...) So I really tried to be more meek. I remember one night I did it perfectly. I was having an argument with my husband, and instead of losing my temper, I spoke with the tongue of angels. I was kind and loving and my emotions were controlled. It was a beautiful experience.
Next, I moved to listening to the Lord's words--really studying the scriptures better, and asking the Lord to reveal helpful things for me. An example of this is where I learned in Mosiah chapter 1 the great blessing of speaking the language of others. You see, because King Benjamin's sons were taught in the language of their fathers, they were blessed to be men of understanding. When I learned the language of my husband, I understood him and could better help him understand me, all because I worked on learning to speak his language.
I'm not sure why I started at the "Peace in Christ" scripture backwards. Maybe it was because, of course, I had been learning of Him all along so I should start somewhere else. But that was where I was wrong. While the scriptures became an amazing resource to me, and I loved learning about being meek, there was a reason that the first part of the recipe is "Learn of me". I began to think about that part of the scripture--really ponder it. After several weeks, while I was sitting in Relief Society (because President Nelson said to fully immerse ourselves in Relief Society, so of course that is where I would be blessed with the most awesome thought of all!), it suddenly hit me that I had been praying all wrong. All of my prayers had been selfish! They were all about me. They were all about my problems and what I was grateful for, what I wanted, what I wanted my friends and my family to be blessed with, blah, blah, blah. Did I ever consider what He was grateful for, what He wanted for me and my family and my friends? Maybe a little--but I certainly never asked Him personal questions to get to know Him like I would my friends or my kids or my husband. And so it began: My journey with getting to know my Heavenly Father. Isn't that what a real relationship is really all about? And I cannot fully tell you how awesome it is, how awesome He is! And the journey getting there reveals a lot about our Father. And the knowledge of Him equals peace. There's no other way to describe it. "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." John 17:3. To know God is truly eternal bliss.
Next, I moved to listening to the Lord's words--really studying the scriptures better, and asking the Lord to reveal helpful things for me. An example of this is where I learned in Mosiah chapter 1 the great blessing of speaking the language of others. You see, because King Benjamin's sons were taught in the language of their fathers, they were blessed to be men of understanding. When I learned the language of my husband, I understood him and could better help him understand me, all because I worked on learning to speak his language.
I'm not sure why I started at the "Peace in Christ" scripture backwards. Maybe it was because, of course, I had been learning of Him all along so I should start somewhere else. But that was where I was wrong. While the scriptures became an amazing resource to me, and I loved learning about being meek, there was a reason that the first part of the recipe is "Learn of me". I began to think about that part of the scripture--really ponder it. After several weeks, while I was sitting in Relief Society (because President Nelson said to fully immerse ourselves in Relief Society, so of course that is where I would be blessed with the most awesome thought of all!), it suddenly hit me that I had been praying all wrong. All of my prayers had been selfish! They were all about me. They were all about my problems and what I was grateful for, what I wanted, what I wanted my friends and my family to be blessed with, blah, blah, blah. Did I ever consider what He was grateful for, what He wanted for me and my family and my friends? Maybe a little--but I certainly never asked Him personal questions to get to know Him like I would my friends or my kids or my husband. And so it began: My journey with getting to know my Heavenly Father. Isn't that what a real relationship is really all about? And I cannot fully tell you how awesome it is, how awesome He is! And the journey getting there reveals a lot about our Father. And the knowledge of Him equals peace. There's no other way to describe it. "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." John 17:3. To know God is truly eternal bliss.
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