As I read the conference talk this week, one comment that Elder Neal A. Anderson made really stuck with me. He said, “Faith is not only a feeling; it is a decision.” Elder Anderson went on to talk about how you can choose to build up your faith through studying the gospel and making righteous decisions. As I have contemplated that faith is more than a feeling, I have come to realize that it is really true.
You can say that you believe something, but if you truly believe it, you will act on it. I believe that faith grows through our little decisions and actions as well as our big ones. When you first join the church or gain a testimony of the gospel, your faith is tentative. You believe, but it may be difficult to fully understand the affect that your new faith will have on your life. As you make changes in your life reading the scriptures, and realizing your total reliance on Him, your faith will grow.
I have found that my faith has grown immensely as I have come to realize that if I lay my difficult problems at the feet of the Savior that things will work out. The journey may not always be easy, but I know that He is there with me. I can have comfort anytime I pray to Him. He gives me the strength to take each minute as it comes. It has not been easy for me to come to the point when I realize fully that everything is in the Lord’s hands. I know that if I plead with Him, He will help me.
One of the reasons that faith and hope are so intertwined is that you cannot have hope without faith. And if you do not have hope you have given up your faith. In Anne of Green Gables Marilla told Anne that “To despair is to turn your back on God.” In many ways when you choose to dwell on the negative, and feel that no solution will be found, you are indeed making the choice to let your faith go.
As I write this, I know that there are situations when it is extremely difficult to find hope and faith. But I also know that as you plead for comfort, and ask for a greater increase of faith you will find it as you study the scriptures and continue to pray. The Lord wants us to be happy, and He wants our faith to grow. It is important to realize that our trials can helps us with both of these aspects.
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