Growth will come as you struggle

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Morning Session of the October 2009 Conference.

Three of the talks in this session are "classics;" talks I've revisited already more than once and which I frequently run into quotes from. They're Elder Scott's "To Acquire Spiritual Guidance," Elder Bednar's "More Diligent and Concerned at Home," and Elder Uchtdorf's "The Love of God." They're all so good I wasn't sure which to write about! But as I was looking through my favorite parts of all of them, those parts all seemed to be circling around the idea of patience or consistency in living the gospel. That must be the message I need right now! So, here are some of those excerpts.

Elder Scott starts by talking about something I've thought a lot about lately:

Today, world conditions change so rapidly that such a course of action is often not available to us.

Personally, I rejoice in that reality because it creates a condition where we, of necessity, are more dependent upon the Spirit to guide us through the vicissitudes of life.

Personally, I do not rejoice in that reality because it's so hard! I can't ask my parents how they handled smartphones or online pornography or social media. It feels so daunting to cope with all these challenges! But, I would like to follow Elder Scott's example and see the good side: more chances to rely on and learn from the Holy Ghost! Then he says,

I am convinced that there is no simple formula or technique that would immediately allow you to master the ability to be guided by the voice of the Spirit.…[Heavenly Father and Jesus] know that essential personal growth will come as you struggle to learn how to be led by the Spirit.

It's so hard to be patient sometimes with the gap between wanting the Spirit and actually qualifying for and understanding it! There are SO many things I need help with, and SO many things I feel I'm not getting that help with! Not that the Spirit isn't helping me, but I'm just not comprehending it or following it well enough! So it's comforting to think that as I'm struggling, I am learning. And as I'm feeling confused, I am learning. And as I am fighting off discouragement, I am learning. All of that is part of the learning! 

Elder Bednar brings up a similar idea when he talks about his family's efforts to have scripture study, prayer, and Family Home Evening. He says

At times Sister Bednar and I were exasperated because the righteous habits we worked so hard to foster did not seem to yield immediately the spiritual results we wanted and expected.

I'm sure every parent in the church related to that statement. I did when I first heard it—but I did even MORE when I read it this time. So, after feeling that exasperation, it seems almost too good to be true to think that just as struggles with hearing the spirit are part of the learning we need, struggles with our family and our children are part of what we need too!—that those struggles and intense efforts are even an essential part of family growth:

Sister Bednar and I thought helping our sons understand the content of a particular lesson or a specific scripture was the ultimate outcome. But such a result does not occur each time we study or pray or learn together. The consistency of our intent and work was perhaps the greatest lesson—a lesson we did not fully appreciate at the time.

And then Elder Uchtdorf reiterates the same point: being a disciple of Christ just means keeping up the struggle!:

My dear brothers and sisters, don’t get discouraged if you stumble at times. Don’t feel downcast or despair if you don’t feel worthy to be a disciple of Christ at all times. The first step to walking in righteousness is simply to try. We must try to believe. Try to learn of God: read the scriptures; study the words of His latter-day prophets; choose to listen to the Father; and do the things He asks of us. Try and keep on trying until that which seems difficult becomes possible—and that which seems only possible becomes habit and a real part of you.

He reminds us:

If you listen for the voice of the Father, He will lead you on a course that will allow you to experience the pure love of Christ.

And that's the main lesson I felt from all these talks, I guess. Just that I need to trust the covenant path. Wherever it takes me, whatever difficulties and failures I encounter as I try to keep my covenants to qualify for the Spirit, to teach my children, to love my neighbors, to always remember the Savior—God has already provided the way through. It requires confusion and uncertainty at times. It requires being frustrated. It requires going through periods where I can see no good results coming from my efforts. It requires having to try again a hundred times to acquire a virtue I think I should have already mastered. And all of those discouraging, frustrating elements are not detours from, but important parts of, the path Heavenly Father has designed for me to walk. All I need to do is keep walking on it, trusting the Savior, and He will lead me to where I need and desire to be!

Other posts in this series:

Be Still—by Rozy

Spiritual Confidence—by Jan