Hanging on Small Hinges

I am very grateful for the LDS General Conference talks this weekend. I took notes and have some thoughts in my head, but I’m not ready to write about any of them quite yet. I will say that I am grateful for the messages of hope and peace that were spoken and for the reminder that our Father is bound to keep His promises when we are obedient.

This afternoon I was looking through my file where I save things I want to share here in the future and saw this talk that I haven’t blogged about yet. It had similar messages of hope and peace that I have enjoyed during this conference so I’m happy to share a few bits of this today. It’s called Faith, Hope & Charity by Stan Kivett, a religion professor at BYU-Idaho.

 

“Some of my favorite friends––heroes I have come to love and respect––are those who have had the faith and courage to seek forgiveness. However, even more impressive, and less celebrated in my estimation, are the accomplishments of those who exercise the faith not to fall. When temptations become powerful, they use the example and power of the Savior to control passions, to forgive, or to remain faithful in spite of adversity. They use the atonement to succeed instead of just using it to rectify failure”

“…Brothers and sisters, life’s doors swing on small hinges. Many of us are facing tests right now that will be pivot points on which the rest of our life will swing.”

I love that statement about our lives hanging on small hinges. It is a small decision we make today or another we make tomorrow that will determine which way our life will go. We cannot make a choice without the consequence that comes with it.

 

Brother Kivett reminds us, along with President Packer’s words, that because we are children of God, if we are obedient and follow our Savior, we have power beyond our own.

"Satan is striving to cause us to become weak, pathetic victims. However, you are not victims—you are soldiers with a cause. President Boyd K. Packer once said:

‘When you say, ‘I can’t! I can’t solve my problems!’ I want to thunder out, ‘Don’t you realize who you are? Haven’t you learned yet that you are a son or a daughter of Almighty God? Do you not know that there are powerful resources inherited from Him that you can call upon to give you steadiness and courage and great power?'' (Ensign, August 1975)

I don't know about you, but I know a few blessings that I’d rather have now instead of wait for them. But I do have faith that my Father's promised blessings will come to me one day if I continue on His path. Brother Kivett’s words about this remind me of this photo that I have as the background on my computer. (I would give credit to its creator, but have no idea who that is. I have found it going around online.)

 

 

“As we exercise the faith to obey, we begin to acquire hope. Hope reinforces our faith as we seek to pass the tests of life. Hope in Christ has been equated with an 'earnest expectation' (Philippians 1:20). It is behaving according to a firm belief in how things will unfold. It is expecting, not wishing. Hope orients our lives. Hope keeps our eyes focused on eternity. Hope-filled individuals cherish eternal promises enough to cling to them through trials and distractions, while those who lack hope give up what they want most for what they want at the moment.”

"The immutable promises of God allow you to face the vicissitudes of life calmly. The temporary withholding of a promised blessing does not trouble those who keep their eyes riveted on the eventual fulfillment of the promise. Moroni explained that this kind of hope begins with faith and becomes 'an anchor to the souls of men which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God' (Ether 12:4). I testify that God is omniscient and omnipotent, and therefore able to fulfill any promise. You can trust in this assurance from Him: 'I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them' (Isaiah 42:16)."

I took this photo of a plaque at a pioneer cemetery in Utah.