Ensign, ‘This is the Greatest of All Dispensations,’ July 2007; “God is eagerly waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as he always has. But he can’t if you don’t pray, and he can’t if you don’t dream. In short, he can’t if you don’t believe.” – Jeffery R. Holland
Matthew 6:33; “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
The piece of advice Mr. Holland offered seems like a bad rendition of our scripture verse above.
I often wonder if those in the LDS leadership stop to think about the way people might interpret their messages because in my case everything this man said is a lie. Now that I’m older and have the benefit of salvation I also know that what he said isn’t the way God operates.
When I was LDS…
I prayed my parents wouldn’t divorce.
I prayed my brother Phil wouldn’t die from AIDS.
I prayed my brother Curt wouldn’t die from Leukemia.
I prayed all the time my immediate family would want to read the Bible.
I prayed God would miraculously bring my daughter Mallory back to life.
Not one of those events came to pass. The sad thing about Mr. Holland’s message is how many members of the Church refuse to disembark from the hamster wheel of lies.
God doesn’t promise a life of happiness which is in direct opposition of what the Church says. Happiness isn’t joy or peace. The latter things come from God while the former comes from happenings.
Jesus told us to be ready for trouble for trouble would be ahead (Matt. 7:13-14). Apparently even those in Jesus’ day believed in the schemes of men who promised better things (Luke 13:23-25), but friends God never promised a life of happiness and if someone does it’s a false gospel!
Jesus promised us peace that would never leave (John 14:27) and that’s what every Christian experiences when they’re in Him. You can say that life isn’t fair and you’d be right. If life was fair we’d all go to hell because that’s what we deserve, but God loves us too much to let that happen and He offers life everlasting (John 3:16).
Don’t fall for the trick.
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