Seeking God’s Will

Last weekend was General Conference and I appreciated that many messages centered around how we can build our Faith in Jesus Christ. One of the themes that stood out to me was seeking to do God’s will and making that the focus of my life. One of God’s current apostles, Dieter F. Uchtdorf shared this concept in a very insightful way. He shared, “

“Come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him.”²

But how is this possible? To many of us, such a standard of whole-souled commitment seems out of reach. We are already stretched so thin. How can we balance the many demands of life with our desires to offer our whole souls to the Lord? …

As we seek to purify our lives and look unto Christ in every thought,¹² everything else begins to align. Life no longer feels like a long list of separate efforts held in tenuous balance.

Over time, it all becomes one work.

One joy.

One holy purpose.

It is the work of loving and serving God. It is loving and serving God’s children.¹³

When we look at our lives and see a hundred things to do, we feel overwhelmed. When we see one thing—loving and serving God and His children, in a hundred different ways—then we can work on those things with joy.

This is how we offer our whole souls—by sacrificing anything that’s holding us back and consecrating the rest to the Lord and His purposes.”

I am strengthened by this insight and hope that I can make the purpose of doing God’s will the heart of all of my actions and intentions.

Daily Nourishment

Another theme that I saw was the warning call to make daily and consistent efforts to do the things that will nourish and strengthen our body and spirit. We need to cultivate our relationship with our Heavenly Father and Savior daily! If we make these relationships the focus of our lives, we will always be able to find joy. Our Savior is ready to help us and His hand is stretched out daily towards us.

Daily, Joyful Repentance

President Russel M. Nelson reminded us to avoid contention and exhorted us again to make daily repentance a part of our lives. By doing so, we will be able to be happier and the enemy of our souls will have less power over us. I have felt the joy of repentance that is possible through the atonement of Jesus Christ these past few days. For a while I felt that some mistakes I made were holding me down although I was trying to do all I knew how to stay close to God and serve Him. I had prayed for forgiveness, but I still felt distant from God. Because of these feelings I had not gone to the temple for a few weeks. When I shared how I felt with my mom she reminded me of some simple truths I had forgotten. When we sincerely repent, the Lord forgives us immediately. There are some serious mistakes that may take more time for us to work through with the Lord, but for the most part we can quickly turn to the Lord after we slip up or stumble from our sins. My mom reminded me that the longer I waited to go to the temple again, the harder it would be to go because my enemy would make a special effort to keep me from there. Because of her words, I was able to feel the Lord’s forgiveness and feel good about going to the temple. When I went yesterday, it felt like my path was being barred up. I missed my bus to get home because one of my classes ran late, but I decided I would run home. I made it home, got dressed in my white shirt and slacks, and made it to the temple just in time. I felt peace in the temple and I felt that God had blessed me to be able to be there that day. Through Christ’s help we can find the strength to forgive others, ourselves, and find forgiveness for the mistakes we make each day. The Lord is ready and happy to help and heal us each day as we strive to follow Him and do His will. He loves us and is our Savior and Redeemer!

Here are some great talks from this conference and last conference!