Life is scary. Most of us like to know what lies ahead and what choices we should make. We like to know the results of those choices. The truth is, however, that most of the time, we don’t know any of this. We walk through life seeing what is immediately around us, but little more. The best way to cope with the uncertainty of life is to develop a complete trust in our Heavenly Father. We can’t see the end of the path, but He can. He knows not only what will happen, but what is best. Faith is an abiding principle of your new religion
“To exercise faith is to trust that the Lord knows what He is doing with you and that He can accomplish it for your eternal good even though you cannot understand how He can possibly do it. We are like infants in our understanding of eternal matters and their impact on us here in mortality. Yet at times we act as if we knew it all. When you pass through trials for His purposes, as you trust Him, exercise faith in Him, He will help you. That support will generally come step by step, a portion at a time. While you are passing through each phase, the pain and difficulty that comes from being enlarged will continue. If all matters were immediately resolved at your first petition, you could not grow. Your Father in Heaven and His Beloved Son love you perfectly. They would not require you to experience a moment more of difficulty than is absolutely needed for your personal benefit or for that of those you love.” (Richard G. Scott, “Trust in the Lord,” Ensign, Nov 1995, 16)
The key thought in that quote is that God and Jesus love you perfectly. Perfectly! If you can hold on to that thought, you’ll never doubt he’s paying attention to you, planning for you, and doing only what is necessary for you to accomplish all He has planned for you. Sometimes, when I feel most scared, it’s because I’m trying to see too far ahead, the way it hurts your mind to try to peer through the fog on a very foggy day. If I try to focus on just what is right ahead of me, I feel less frightened. Perhaps I can’t do anything about the big trial that awaits me next year, but right this moment, there might be something I can do. If I ask God to show me what it is, I can focus on the task of the moment, on just what He wants me to see and do. One step at a time, line upon line…and I reach the finish line successfully. All I have to do is follow the small steps given me, one at a time, by God, the perfect guide.
The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.
