Tonight I received a priesthood blessing, I can't say that I was aware of a distinct need for one, I just sort of felt like I should ask for one. In doing so I received a blessing that caught me completely unawares, the Lord mentioned things that I hadn't even realized were on my mind and brought up things that sort of felt were from left field. What I did feel most deeply is that Heavenly Father has the long view, even if I feel so stuck in what is happening today.
I think the thing I had reinforced the most to me this week is that the adversary can use anything to stir up opposition and that consistency is really our best defense. Bare in mind this consistency will then most likely stir up more opposition, but it is really the thing that gives you sanity.
This week Christopher and I embraced the new and unexpected and we bought a car, an amazing car that will get us beautifully from point A to point B and has more bells and whistles than I ever expected in a vehicle. It is amazingly fantastic. And it has stirred up more doubt, fear, worry and freak outs than I ever thought possible. It's not as if we did this completely on the spur of the moment. I have been planning and preparing for a new car for months, I had been figuring out budgets and needs, the things I wanted/needed in a car and fighting my own self doubts about allowing myself to have nice things and not just hand me downs. The moment this week when we got this car was one of six months and more of planning. Yet somehow every morning since has been filled with doubts, worries, fears, regrets, and freak outs. I could still feel in my heart that the initial choice was a good one, yet there was so much noise in my head I often wondered if it was really worth it and wondering if I really could have nice things. It took full concentrate to forcefully encourage those voices and doubts to leave and to focus on what I felt when I first started the process.
Now some might say I am reading way more into this situation than is warranted, but I think there can be much to learn from any situation in this life, especially the new things we have never done before. For me this happened to be a new car. This week I have learned that Satan doesn't want us to find joy, he wants to discourage us and he wants us to doubt. The more we learn and grow and expand ourselves the more he shouts and rages. But we do have a choice, we can choose to tell him to leave, we can choose to hold onto the direction we received and we can choose to consistently do the good things even when Satan tells us it isn't worth it.
Why do you think Satan tries to discourage us so much from being consistent? I came to the understanding this week that he fights against our consistency so much because he knows consistency leads to perfection. We become what we repeatedly do. If he can stop us from doing the good things consistently then he can stop us from becoming and growing. If he can stop us from positive thinking, if he weighs us down so fully in doubts and fears, then we give up, never realizing that we are so close to all that Heavenly Father has for us. That gift our Father has for us will look different to each of us, but believing He does have great things for us allows Him to do wonders in our lives. He wants to surprise us with the extra special. I didn't set out to buy a car with extras, I just needed a car to go from point A to B, but sometimes we can have the good and the great and we shouldn't feel bad about it, we should be thankful for the gift and be willing to share the good and the great. Heavenly Father has a way of blessing those He knows will extend that blessing to others. Don't be afraid to receive and always find joy in the giving.
Joy D Jones also talked about growing through enticement, her remarks when a long way in helping understand what was happening this week and to be grateful for the opportunity to grow, though unexpected. You can find her remarks here.
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