Continuing from a previous post ‘Trust’ Brad Wilcox wrote:
. . . .Peace comes when we remember that God sees more than our mortality. He loves our pasts and futures as well as who we are now. Everything He does—even when it leaves us scratching our heads—is done with our best interests in mind. (Now continuing. . . .)
How about honesty? We know God is honest, but that knowledge can fill us with fear as easily as it fills us with peace. He can see beyond our flimsy facades and hypocritical masks. Fear must be replaced with faith—faith that he is honest when He tells us He brought us forth at this time for a purpose and has given us everything we need to succeed. God sees the real us. That also means that in His honesty, He sees good in us that we don’t see in ourselves.
And openness? God is willing to communicate. We know we should pray. We just don’t know how those prayers interact with God’s will and others’ agency. Even when answers come, they rarely come complete with explanations and instructions. In faith we seek priesthood blessings and hear promises uttered that are not immediately fulfilled. It may take us years to realize that some of the greatest evidences of God’s love are the closed doors he sends when we are praying for open ones.
Reliability? Most of us agree that God is reliable and dependable, but our limited view makes us question His timing. We sing, “Jesus, Savior, pilot me” (Hymns, no.104), but we still want to file our own flight plan and direct every takeoff and landing according to our schedule (see Helaman 12:6). God views all things—including time—differently than we do (see Alma 40:8) His delays are not always denials. If we can look back and see His hand in our lives in the past, we must press forward believing that same hand will be evident in the future. If we can see He has brought us to this point, we must believe that He does not intend to drop us now.
Competence? We rarely mistrust God’s ability. After all, He possesses all knowledge and power (see 1 Nephi 9:6). But that assurance doesn’t keep us from assuming God is so busy helping everyone else that He doesn’t have time for us. Since God is competent enough to have numberless children, we must believe that he is competent enough to know and care for each of us individually. God comprehends what we cannot (see Mosiah 4:9). His charity never faileth (see Moroni 7:46; 1 Corinthians 13:8), and His strength is perfect (see 2 Corinthians 12:9).
~Brad Wilcox, His Grace (Deseret Book, Salt Lake City, 2017), (260-62 Dwarsligger® edition) 193-195
