What I do when I Feel Down

 Whenever I feel down, I have to step back and reestablish my belief system and pull myself back to a higher plane.  I then recommit to God that he is in control (since we need to believe that He is).  I also remember the Spirit telling me that when much is given, much is required.  The Spirit told me, that since I wasn’t given much (parental neglect, poor modeling, various kinds of abuse) much is not required of me.  My capacity is where it is at and only through the grace of God (Jesus Christ) will that change.  It bothers me that I tend to pretend a lot around others or inadvertently convey to others that I have it all together.  Or, maybe everyone knows that I am a mess but are too kind to say anything.

So, stay calm, relax, put your trust in God and BE STILL.  As soon as you can be still, inspiration will come.  Being Still is an accumulation of letting go, trusting, fearing not, and meekness – all wrapped up in a meditative state – waiting the Lord to give you direction (in His own due time).  If our minds are too cluttered we are not in a place to receive revelation.

Are We Willing to Believe?

I have been reading this book called The Second Comforter and encountered a part that I found to be very helpful. It starts on page 74. I hope these passages will inspire you as they have me, to view your world differently.

"How we perceive our challenges determines how we meet them. If we see God as the over riding influence in life's challenges, then we can trust God to help us through them.... It is always a battle between faith and skepticism. Do you see it as a fight between your own willingness to trust God to deliver you, or in merely physical terms. Does God care about your life's dilemmas? Will he help deliver you from your 'Goliaths'? Do you trust Him? Do you believe in Him? Do you believe He is interested and involved in your life? Will you accept the proof of His involvement as His word to you? Do you feel His proofs are not sufficient or substantial enough to have faith in them?

"Faith in a distant and unconcerned God may satisfy some Latter-day Saints. But that is not the God Nephi (or David) believed in. In Nephi's example we find a personal God involved in everyday life. We find a God who will give a challenge to us, and then walk beside us to see we succeed. Nephi is trying to teach us this is the way God operates in all of our lives. He is not distant. He is a part of each of our daily lives. We can ignore Him, or acknowledge Him. But whether we accept or reject His involvement, Nephi's view is that He is present and concerned.

"...You must accept Him as someone who cares enough about you that He will help you accomplish His commandments. You must be willing to accept the forms of communications He uses to facilitate this.

"...No Goliath in your life will destroy you. Rather, God will destroy the Goliaths for you.

"In the end, Goliaths are merely opportunities for you to demonstrate your faith. They will be swept away when they no longer serve any purpose. They are there only temporarily to provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate faith.

"Those Goliaths you face are opportunities to see if you will proceed in faith to confront them. They are opportunities and blessings, not difficulties. They are mere illusions; here to test your faith. Face them with faith and with the confidence 'the Lord gives you no commandments save he shall prepare a way for you to accomplish the thing which he hath commanded,' as Nephi would put it. Until you are willing to do this, and actually begin to see life's challenges in this light, you are not ready to proceed further.

"You have to take the proofs, the feelings, the dreams and the insubstantial communications from God and bring them into the physical and material world in which you live. If you are not willing to bring these things from the spiritual into the physical realities by you faith, then the veil will remain in place....

"Nephi has an errand to perform. He accepts that errand faithfully and with confidence the Lord is going to help accomplish it. And he acts in this physical world consistent with faith in the unseen world. That is how we all need to act.

"We all have faith in something. And we act consistent with that faith. Whether faith is in God or in science or in philosophy, we all act consistent with our beliefs. Since that is invariably true, you may as well accept Nephi's view and promise of how things really are and try trusting God in that matter. The alternative is to stay as you are now, and not progress in spiritual matters.

[After multiple failures in getting the plates]..."Nephi's tenacity in approaching his assignment shows that even in dark and discouraging moments he remains committed to the Lord. Nephi's experience demonstrates that trials, setbacks or temporary failure do not mean the Lord has abandoned you. Nor does it mean the Lord has forgotten His promises to you, anymore than this setback meant that to Nephi. D&C 1:38... The upside is the He [the Lord] will not excuse Himself from the commitments made you....if you remain faithful (like Nephi) no difficulty will prevent ultimate success.

"A temporary setback in any Godly undertaking is for your benefit. If you were not given these changes to show faith, then you would fail to develop into the person God wants you to become. ... It requires persistence at almost certain failure. It requires you to look Goliath in the face and say he is God's problem, not yours. Your problem is to persist in faith. The result will occur, however unlikely they may seem at the moment, in the way God has promised.

"Though these things may seem vague and ill-defined or perhaps even chaotic, they are not. As you persist in keeping God's commandments you get an increasingly clear perception. There are concrete and tangible relationships. They are real. Following them will result in anyone, anywhere, from any culture or background, receiving the results.

"One of the necessary experiences through which you must pass is the experience of apparent imminent failure.... You must choose between the apparent failure of faith, and the desire to persist. Facing the end, you must retain hope. This is good for the soul, even though it is painful to endure. You must face the physical dilemmas and difficulties in life while viewing them in their true spiritual setting. You must rend the veil."

I will stop there. The book is awesome! These passages give me hope in my current dilemmas. I have never heard someone speak so plainly about what it means to exercise faith in the unseen in the physical world we live in.

Faith and Demons

I have been thinking lately about my approach to faith and hope. Three things come to mind: the faith of Nephi, mellowing out, and the movie, 'A Beautiful Mind'.

First, the faith of Nephi, shows that many times God does not come through for a person that is exercising faith until after the tribulation has occurred. Nephi also demonstrates his faith by his steadiness. He has a firm hope, trusting in his
God, that their is a promised land to inherit.

Second, I believe that staying calm and mellowing out is a demonstration of faith.

Third, in the movie, 'A Beautiful Mind', the main character has to first become aware of and then master his demons. His demons were mental apparitions of individuals that feed his various fears.

So, how do these things help me with my life? At times, the Lord reveals to me what I need to do in advance, counseling me to take a specific action. This might be considered an errand of the Lord. Other times (or during the errand), the Lord doesn't give any direction (counsel or deliverance)until after the crisis has occurred. This is what is meant by the scriptures stating that miracles don't occur until after the trial of our faith. I may want to be guided and inspired so smooth sailing will always occur but this is not scriptural. So, what demonstrates that I have faith? That I can remain steady, calm and believing up to and during the 'fire'. Of course, keeping the commandments is a given.

But, how does one stay calm when things aren't going well? How does one not go into despair (unbelief, hopelessness)? Everyone has their own 'demons' that immediately manifest themselves when the going gets rough. Like in the movie, these mental demons can overwhelm us. The man in the movie has to first become aware of their existence and then learn to keep them at bay. He mastered the ability to keep them at a distance rather than letting them control him and his life. In the same way, we too must become aware of our personal demons (weaknesses, emotional states, etc.) and learn to keep them at bay. As we practice (exercising faith and maintaining hope) we eventually become masters at it.

But my tribulation is truly despairing! There is no way out of it! What you are really saying is that God really doesn't exist and cannot help you is this particular case. Your case is special. God helps other but not me. But the truth is that you haven't been granted to gift of seeing your demons. You believe that your particular demons are just part of your personality. They came upon you so fast, when the affliction or trial occurred, that you didn't even recognize what just happened. You believed in the demon (depression, fear, foreboding, paranoia, injustness, shame, jealousy, envying, coveting, anxiety, hatred, rage, apathy, judging, mocking, pride, self-condemnation, etc.) and gave it room in your inn and let it take up its abode inside of you.

Keeping your demons (negative emotions) from overwhelming you takes practice. It may require you to stop what you are doing and immediately reaffirm your faith in God, that the feelings that you are having are neither permanent nor useful. They may seem very real but they serve no useful purpose. My goal is learn to be aware of them coming upon me, keep them at bay, and give them no heed. All they will do is hinder your progress. Nephi had to leave his brothers outside the walls because they were complaining that the errand couldn't be done. We need to put despair and unbelief aside also. When Nephi and his brother were returning home with Ishmael and his family, Nephi wasn't delivered until after he was tied up and left to die. The Lord was testing and growing Nephi's faith by bringing him to the brink. This happens over and over where Nephi keeps the faith, stays calm, trusts in the Lord and stays optimistice (hopes all things).

Where do we start on our journey? The first step is just to believe. Believe you are worthy. Believe that God is aware of your problem. Believe that He will help. Believe that He will at times take to all the way to the edge to see if you will be steadfast in your faith in Him. Believe that faith preceeds the miracle. Be aware that the miracle that was waiting for you will not appear unless your faith is strong enough and that you will probably never realize what the miracle was if you fall into despair and unbelief.

So, stay calm, be believing, trust in God and wait on the Lord!

Faith and Demons

I have been thinking lately about my approach to faith and hope. Three things come to mind: the faith of Nephi, mellowing out, and the movie, 'A Beautiful Mind'.

First, the faith of Nephi, shows that many times God does not come through for a person that is exercising faith until after the tribulation has occurred. Nephi also demonstrates his faith by his steadiness. He has a firm hope, trusting in his
God, that their is a promised land to inherit.

Second, I believe that staying calm and mellowing out is a demonstration of faith.

Third, in the movie, 'A Beautiful Mind', the main character has to first become aware of and then master his demons. His demons were mental apparitions of individuals that feed his various fears.

So, how do these things help me with my life? At times, the Lord reveals to me what I need to do in advance, counseling me to take a specific action. This might be considered an errand of the Lord. Other times (or during the errand), the Lord doesn't give any direction (counsel or deliverance)until after the crisis has occurred. This is what is meant by the scriptures stating that miracles don't occur until after the trial of our faith. I may want to guided and inspired so smooth sailing will always occur but this is not scriptural. So, what demonstrates that I have faith? That I can remain steady, calm and believing up to and during the 'fire'. Of course, keeping the commandments is a given.

But, how does one stay calm when things aren't going well? How does one not go into despair (unbelief, hopelessness)? Everyone has their own 'demons' that immediately manifest themselves when the going gets rough. Like in the movie, these mental demons can overwhelm us. The man in the movie has to first become aware of their existence and then learn to keep them at bay. He mastered the ability to keep them at a distance rather than letting them control him and his life. In the same way, we too must become aware of our personal demons (weaknesses, emotional states, etc.) and learn to keep them at bay. As we practice (exercising faith and maintaining hope) we eventually become masters at it.

But my tribulation is truly despairing! There is no way out of it! What you are really saying is that God really doesn't exist and cannot help you is this particular case. Your case is special. God helps other but not me. But the truth is that you haven't been granted to gift of seeing your demons. You believe that your particular demons are just part of your personality. They came upon you so fast, when the affliction or trial occurred, that you didn't even recognize what just happened. You believed in the demon (depression, fear, foreboding, paranoia, injustness, shame, jealousy, envying, coveting, anxiety, hatred, rage, apathy, judging, mocking, pride, self-condemnation, etc.) and gave it room in your inn and let it take up its abode inside of you.

Keeping your demons (negative emotions) from overwhelming you takes practice. It may require you to stop what you are doing and immediately reaffirm your faith in God, that the feelings that you are having are neither permanent nor useful. They may seem very real but they serve no useful purpose. My goal is learn to be aware of them coming upon me, keep them at bay, and give them no heed. All they will do is hinder your progress. Nephi had to leave his brothers outside the walls because they were complaining that the errand couldn't be done. We need to put despair and unbelief aside also. When Nephi and his brother were returning home with Ishmael and his family, Nephi wasn't delivered until after he was tied up left to die. The Lord was testing and growing Nephi's faith by bringing the brink. This happens over and over where Nephi keeps the faith, stays calm, trusts in the Lord and stay optimistice (hopes all things).

Where do we start on our journey? The first step is just to believe. Believe you are worthy. Believe that God is aware of your problem. Believe that He will help. Believe that He will at times take to all the way to the edge to see if you will be steadfast in your faith in Him. Believe that faith preceeds the miracle. Be aware that the miracle that was waiting for you will not appear unless your faith is strong enough and that you will probably never realize what the miracle was if you fall into despair and unbelief.

So, stay calm, be believing, trust in God and wait on the Lord!