From Robert L. Millet, his book, ′The Holy Spirit:′
“Unshaken faith in the work of the Lord. Isn’t that what each of us most desires in the midst of a world filled with snide cynicism and religious skepticism? Knowing the truth and knowing that you know, bring peace and balance, certitude and calmness in a world gone mad. (i) “Certitude is certainty,’ President Gordon B. Hinkley pointed out. It is the power of faith that approaches knowledge—that even becomes knowledge. It evokes enthusiasm, and there is no asset comparable to enthusiasm in overcoming opposition, prejudice, and indifference.”(ii)
He continued: “If the Latter-day Saints, as individuals, ever lose that certitude, the church will dwindle as so many other churches have. But I have no fear of that. I am confident that an ever-enlarging membership will seek for and find that personal conviction which we call testimony, which comes by the power of the Holy Ghost, and which can weather the storms of adversity.¨(iii)
Cyprian, one of the great defenders of the faith after the apostolic period, described his own experience: “Into my heart, purified of all sin, there entered a light which came from on high, and then suddenly, and in a marvelous manner, I saw certainty succeed doubt.” (iv)
We begin to face our trials, our challenges—indeed, the vicissitudes of life—in a less defensive, angry way. We become less inclined to cry out, “Why me?” We become less likely to blame God for our financial losses, our depression, or the death of a loved one. We become more accepting of the fact that we live in a fallen mortal world, a world characterized not only by thorns and thistles and briars and noxious weeds but also by health challenges, emotional crises, and sins that disrupt marriages and families; these painful and poignant moments come with the turf of our second estate. We become more prone to ask God in prayer, “What would you have me learn from this? What would you have me do?”
Elder D. Todd Christofferson taught us a significant lesson when he stated that “the temptations we experience, plus any testing that the Lord sees fit to impose, can lead to our full conversion and healing. But this happens, if and only if, we do not harden our hearts or stiffen our nicks against Him. If we remain firm and steadfast, come what may, we achieve the conversion the Savior intended. . . , conversion so complete, it cannot be undone. ~ Robert L. Millet, The Holy Spirit (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2019) 239-41
(i) Callister, “Knowing That We Know,” Ensign November’’ 2007, 100-101.
(ii) Faith, the essence of True Religion, 1
(iii) Faith, the essence of True Religion, 5-6
(iv) Cited in Lee, Stand Ye in Holy Places, 57.
