One of the important principles I have learned is that the Gospel can help us make better and right decisions. Sometimes it is hard to make decisions, especially right decisions because our understanding is imperfect. We think of the options for days, sometimes even months, we tend to go back and forth between the pros and cons. We might experience a great deal of fear about making the wrong choice. We may even go to others for advice because we trust their judgment more than our own. We cannot foresee the future, nor can we know our ultimate potential, but this is the way the Lord wants us to learn. 'The Lord does see the future, and only He knows our divine potential. '1 This knowledge has helped me to rely upon the Lord while making decisions.
All of us make decisions every day. Some of our choices are small, and some are big. These decisions include Education, Career, Home, Family, Relationships and so on. Yes, we can make all these decisions we want for ourselves, but I have learned that including the Lord in our decisions always brings the best outcome. While making any important decisions of life, we will have lots of questions and concerns, and our responses to those critical times of decision shape our lives and make us who we are.
I strive to let Lord be a part of my decision making. And I learned that to receive any blessings we desire, we must pay our price, and the price is not always easy. My grandfather passed away when I was young. He was everything to me and, missing him was the hardest thing which led me to question life. And recently, when my grandmother passed away, I saw how our family was falling apart; we all went into some part of guilty rides, and the absence of two of them affected us. The only right decision we made at that time was to search for deeper truth than getting into the depression of losing our loved ones. Though it was hard, we still said our family prayers. We accepted it to be the Lord's will. Mourning as a family was a painful process but relying on the teachings of His Gospel helped us get through it. We held on to the faith we already had. By reading scriptures, singing and praising the Lord during such times gave us peace and comfort. Our family would have been broken into pieces if it were not for the eternal truth of the Resurrection and the restored Gospel. But no matter our trials, we chose to fight it in the Lord's way, and that decision gave us stronger testimony.
By holding on to His Gospel, our decisions are made better, and we can also become the better person he wants us to be. Though sometimes we make wrong decisions, he will help us get in the right direction only if we allow Him and His will to be part of our decision making. His Gospel moulds us to become the person he wants us to be.
Notes:
1 Elder Steven C. Wheelwright, 'Decision Making—The Lord's Way' May 2009 BYU Speeches.