“We all face choices in the course of our lives, some of them with a siren song of wealth and prosperity; others appear less promising. Somehow the Lord has watched over and guided my choices, although it was not always evident at the time. . . . “As I look back upon my life, I do so with a measure of wonder and awe. Everything good that has happened, including my marriage, I owe to my activity in the Church.”” (Gordon B. Hinckley, “Seek Ye the Kingdom of God,” Ensign, May 2006, 81)
Trusting in the Lord is sometimes a lot harder than it sounds. Really, trust in the Lord should be easy. He’s God after all. We know He loves us and we know He is pulling for us every step of the way. We know He is doing all He can to help – so why is it so difficult to trust that He really does know what is best.
Looking over the last six months of my life, I never would have guessed that at our age, my husband and I would spend the bulk of that time sick and in the hospital. Never would I have guessed that at our age we would be struggling financially. Never would I have guessed we would be childless. Nevertheless, this is the situation we find ourselves in. Looking around at the circumstances of our life, it should be easy to turn everything over to the Lord, after all, we haven’t done such a great job lately.
So, why is it that we, as the human race, find it so difficult to trust in the Lord? Literally, I think it is because He only exists in the hearts of a few, and in the hearts of those few, they really don’t see Him as a tangible, flesh and bone God, but as some ethereal, other worldly kind of being. Because He is not tangible in their minds, it is too easy to take everything upon ourselves and struggle along.
Let me say this . . . He exists. He did pay for our sins, griefs, sorrows, pains, illness and more. He did break the bands of death. He has, through all His actions, both mortally and heavenly, provided a clear and distinct path to Him and glory. Should He choose, He could stand before you and you would be able to touch and feel flesh and bone. If we cannot see Him, it is because we are not looking. If Jesus Christ is not real to you, make Him real and then trust that He really does know better than you.
The prophet Alma urged,
“Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day’ (Alma 37:37).”